


Yellow - Joel Miller

by aphrxdite



Category: The Last of Us, The Last of Us Part II - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fireflies, Fluff and Angst, HBO's The Last of Us, Joel Lives (The Last of Us), Multi, Seattle, The Last of Us Part II Spoilers, WLF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24892786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphrxdite/pseuds/aphrxdite
Summary: ** SPOILERS FOR TLoU2 but with a twist**Joel and Christine were always close, and some people speculated there was something further going on between them. But the day after the dance, and the day Joel admits his true feelings, their world is ripped into pieces, leaving Christine and Ellie to pick them up and find Joel before the worst comes true.Disclaimer: To simplify, in this work, Joel isn't dead but instead kidnapped by Abby and taken back to WLF HQ to be interrogated and tortured by Isaac.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Jesse (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us) & Original Character(s), Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83





	1. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *** Two days Before TLoU Part II ***

Her hands lingered above the door knocker, not wanting to wake him, but so desperately wanting his comfort. She wrapped her hand around it, the cold metal stinging her bare skin in the harsh winter night and she wondered if he was awake, if he shared her inability to sleep after everything that had happened across the country. It had been years since the incident at the Salt Lake Hospital.

One of the lights turned on inside, and Christine Abernathy found herself backing away from his door, slowly at first, as to remain anonymous to being there. She had almost reached his mailbox, _almost,_ when the door creaked open – something Joel had refused to sort out because it made his house more 'rustic', whatever that meant – and revealed the man she sought out; Joel Miller.

"Can't sleep?" He asked, and it was clear that he couldn't either. He was in his pyjamas, something Christine didn't even think he owned considering he was always dressed before she was even awake, and she watched him as he cradled a mug in his hands.

She wrapped her arms around her torso, suddenly feeling the cold through the shirt Joel let her borrow during their cross country trip, "I keep seeing his face, the doctor." her voice quietened and Joel scanned the empty neighborhood before inviting his friend inside.

"Chris," Joel offered, setting his mug down on the hall table and walking her through his house to the kitchen, "There's nothing you could've done," she followed him through the dim house and he pulled out a chair for her.

"I know, it's just... what if they come after us?" She pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve stress and found that she felt like a corpse on autopilot, she couldn't sleep anymore. "Shit, Joel..." Christine paused, playing with one of the buttons on the cuff of Joel's shirt she wore, "What if they come after you?" he looked up at her to find that she was staring down at the table. She looked exhausted and something inside him panged.

He sank into the seat opposite her and, for a moment, found himself debating on putting his hand over hers. He just wanted her to know that she was safe, and that he'd protect her no matter what. He thought about how the moonlight made her look like a hollowed out version of herself, like someone he didn't even recognise. She looked out across his back yard and settled her eyes onto the shed.

Joel brushed his knuckles against hers softly, "I won't let anything happen, I promise you, Chris." his voice was almost a whisper as the pair looked at eachother, "I'll _always_ protect you and Ellie," he felt her withdraw her hands and watched as she folded them into her lap.

"What about you? Who's gonna protect you, Joel?" Christine asked, standing up quickly and folding her arms. Joel noticed the how the shirt she wore had been his, and how it was too big for her so the cuffs flopped over her hands. He watched her for a moment as she searched for how to say the three words she so dearly wanted to, but instead, she whispered. "I don't wanna lose you, okay?"

Joel understood. After a year of travelling across the country with someone, you learn a lot about them and who they really are. They had plenty of near death experiences together, but that only glued them together like never before, "C'mere," he grumbled, opening his arms for the woman who'd saved him in more ways than she knew. He pulled her close and wrapped his strong arm around her, his hand settling on the base of her skull whilst the other wrapped around her shoulder.

"You won't lose me, Chris, I promise." He whispered into her dark hair, smelling the shampoo she used and smiling when he realised it was the on he'd picked up on a supply run a few months back, "No matter what." he reiterated, hoping that she'd never forget that he'd always protect the people he loved, even when it meant putting himself second. He knew he couldn't live with himself if anything happened to either of them.

She took a moment to take in everything that was Joel Miller, how he smelled, how his heart drummed against her ear as she pressed it against his chest, how he would rub her neck with his thumb. In that moment, as the moonlight drowned them in an intimate light, she felt that she knew Joel. And in turn, Joel knew her.

"C'mon, darlin'," Joel drawled, picking her up like she weighed nothing, and walked her to the spare room in his house, "You should sleep," he offered, setting her down on the end of the bed and pulling her unlaced boots off from her feet. He pulled the blanket back for her and helped her settle into the bed.

She looked at the wooden carving of the Texas state hung on the wall and she felt a smile tug at her lips, "You're so obsessed with that state," Joel looked across at the carving and then back at the woman laid in the bed and gave her a tired wonky grin.

After they'd made it to Jackson five years ago, Joel and Ellie hadn't really spoken much and Christine was the wedge between them, relaying how each of the pair were doing to the other. She was the closest thing Ellie had to a Mother, but, as Ellie claimed, Christine was more of a 'cool aunt' than anything else. And Joel, well. Ellie and Joel were like father and daughter, they were two people who'd had each other's backs for a year out in the wild. But now they were safe, it was like they didn't exist to each other.

Joel tried to fix the rift between them, but Ellie couldn't warm up to him that easily, and they'd lost three years of time because of it.

"In case you forgot, missy," Joel spoke, now stood up to his full height, and leant against the doorframe, his t-shirt sleeve rising up above his bicep and showing a slight scar that sat near his shoulder, "I used to live in that state," he remembered his house and his old life for a moment, and he found himself in a bittersweet way about everything that has changed and everything that has happened. He wouldn't change it for the world.

He lingered by the door for a moment longer, Christine facing him the whole time, "I should let you get some sleep, anyway," his voice fell the moment he spoke, not due to weakness, but due to the intimacy and delicate nature of the moment. He tapped the door gently, as if it would make a difference, and turned to leave.

"Joel," She whispered, propping herself up on her forearm and looking at him through the darkness, "Please stay," she was scared of the nightmares coming back after all these years, especially after what she'd seen at the med bay from the last supply run. There were so many big and scary things in the world, but having him next to her would make it feel that little bit safer, and that's all she needed.

It's all he needed too.

* * *

When she woke up, the other side of the bed was empty. Her hand stretched across the dent he had left and found the heat he'd provided was running out. It no longer housed the man who had shared the bed during the previous night, just the ghost of him in the empty room. 

Sunlight flooded in through the window, indicating that it would be time to head to work in a while. She groaned, knowing that somehow she'd be left with the flower arrangements for the Winter Ball tomorrow night. Sure, it was an easy job, but she never saw the outside and she missed it in a way. Christine laid on her back for a moment, thinking about how beautiful the town was in winter and how lucky the three of them were, even if Ellie was still angry at Joel.

The smell of something cooking downstairs managed to rouse her, causing her to throw the blanket off her legs and to stumble into Joel's bathroom where she fixed her hair and rinsed her mouth with water from the tap. She didn't want Joel to smell her morning breath, she owed him that. She thought about how he'd probably smelled it during the night and she cringed.

Something smashed downstairs, putting Christine on edge as she assumed the worst.

"Joel?" She called, running down the wooden stairs in her bare feet to find him hugging his knees in a pile of shattered porcelain. His hands were over his ears and he was breathing erratically once again. It had become apparent that he, too, dealt with the guilt she felt.

Christine crouched next to him, the whole time mentioning how he was safe, he was home, and she placed her hand between his shoulder blades, feeling the clammy skin beneath his t-shirt he had slept in.

He tried to make himself smaller, lost in his own memories, "I - can't do this - they're screaming - so much blood - I can't -" he mumbled over and over to himself, gently rocking on his heels as the ghosts of his past haunted him again.

"Shhh," She comforted, pulling him into her chest, "You're safe, Joel, I'm right here," she was scared, in all honesty. Sure, she'd experienced it herself, but it was completely different to seeing someone you loved so deeply experiencing. His hands were now untangled and one gripped the soft material of Joel's old shirt she wore. He sought out the beat of her heart to steady his own breathing and it worked.

Christine stroked his hair for a moment longer, the two of them just stood in a pile of broken crockery, and she understood it, the vulnerability, the nightmares. He was still haunted by his actions for the decision he would never regret. Hell, given the chance, Joel would do it all again to save the girl who he called his daughter, although he only said that when he had drunk a little too much or was a little sleepy, Christine knew he'd do it all again. And so would she.

"How about we go to Seth's and get one of his breakfast sandwiches, huh?" Christine offered, helping Joel to his feet and looking for her boots.

Joel nodded, he'd like that.


	2. Chapter 2

Outside of the restaurant, the temperature had begun to plunge – an early symptom of the blizzards, which had been brewing in the mountains, arrival – and children, wrapped in winter clothes, sprinted along the snow-covered paths, throwing balls of snow at each other, barely missing Joel's head and exploding against the roof support. Christine looked back at him, as his increasing age slowed his pace, and caught the moment a large clump of snow plopped into Joel's salt and pepper coloured hair. He quickly shook his head, flinging the snow all around him, and looked up at Christine who was holding her stomach and laughing at him.

"Oh man!" She gasped, doubling over, "your face right now is _priceless_ , Joel," she wheezed a little, something Christine always did when she laughed, and Joel looked at her through the hair that had fallen over his eyes. He noticed the way her one dimple deepened the more she laughed and how the faint crows feet by her eyes crinkled together like crumpled newspaper. He bent down to tie his shoelaces and noticed Christine stopped laughing.

She asked him if he was alright, and a few other of the passersby had a look into what he was doing, and Joel subtly shoveled the snow by his boots into a ball. He told her he was just going to finish tying his laces and she could carry on to the door – giving him enough time to aim and throw the clump of snow at his friend.

Christine turned away, shoving her hands into one of the jackets Joel leant her, and continuing towards the door of the restaurant, where a few residents were milling around and–

Something hit her in the head, sending her stumbling forwards slightly as she tried to regain her balance. Behind her, children laughed and screamed with support as Joel stood in the middle of the street, smoothing off another ball and preparing to throw it at Christine.

"Hey!" She yelled as she tilted her head to the side and picked out the snow clumps stuck within the dark strands of her hair.

Joel relaxed his posture for a moment, "What, can't handle a snowball fight?" he tested and tossed the ball into the air before he caught it elegantly.

Christine pulled her hair back into a ponytail, the whole time sizing up Joel, before diving behind the cover of a lumber cart and shovelling as much snow as physically possible into her hands, "You're on, old man!" she called out, readying the first ball. She popped her head around the side of the cart and managed to duck just as Joel threw it for her. She then ran around the cart in an attempt to flank him whilst the children who'd joined in distracted him.

She was almost behind him now, the lump of snow in her hands being raised up and readied to be catapulted towards him. Joel bent down and was readying another round of ammunition when he saw Christine's boots tiptoeing over, he knew exactly what she was about to do – she had always been predictable in other stealth moments – and he turned around lightning fast, trapping her arms at her side in a bear hug.

"I've got you now!" Joel put on a grizzly voice, amusing the children involved as he picked Christine up so that her feet were dangling.

She squirmed in his grip, "Help me! The bad man has me!" she jokingly cried out for help and looked around the congregation to see children sprinting towards joel and slapping his legs with their small, non-lethal hands. Joel finally let her go and immediately got brought down onto the floor by the dozens of children swarming him, he laughed and tried to swat as many of the children as he could away, but the majority of them stayed – making Christine pull them off of him.

"C'mon chicks, get off of my - uh - Joel," she pulled them off him one by one until Joel was sprawled out in the freshly settled snow, in the middle of the street. "You need a hand?" She questioned, sticking her hand out for him to take. Joel wrapped his large, gloved hand around Christine's smaller one and tugged so that she fell onto him. "Jesus, Joel!" she cursed, sticking her hand next to his head to steady her, whilst the rest of her body rested on top of Joels.

He laughed underneath her, his breath flowing into the air like little speech bubbles as the breath left his chest, "Your face..." he turned his head to the side and cleared his throat, "is priceless," Joel teased, his face mere inches from Christine's as they laid in the street. A few people were staring at them disapprovingly, but the majority of residents already assumed they were in a relationship – which they weren't.

Christine looked into Joel's hazel eyes, the flecks of green and gold glistening in the early winter sun, and pushed herself back onto her feet, this time letting Joel push himself up and leaving him to brush the snow off his backside. He watched as she jogged up the stairs to the restaurant and flung the door open.

"Hey Seth!" Christine chimed, holding the door for the older man behind her. She wouldn't admit it, but Seth just had something about him that put her on edge, especially when Ellie was around. Joel sauntered into the busy restaurant, his eyes relaxed and his thumb hooked through his belt loop, he made his way over to one of the booths and pulled out a chair for Christine, who was busying herself by chatting to various patrons.

He noticed the way she was so... relaxed, she felt safe here and it reflected in her posture, the way she interacted with children and other adults... she looked healthy again. She turned her head and caught Joel pining for her through the abundance of residents. He gave a meek smile and tucked his hair behind his ear, something he'd done whenever he was in an awkward situation.

Christine excused herself from the conversation she was in and strolled across to the table, sliding into her chair and almost toppling off it. Like always, Joel shot his hand across and steadied her from falling. He looked at her with a smile on his face and happiness in his eyes.

"Shut it, Joel," Christine swatted his arm playfully and picked up the hand written menu in front of her.

He tipped the front of her menu down and quirked one eyebrow up, "What'd you say, Missy?" he drawled, his Texan accent making a full appearance in the moment.

"You heard, old man," She quipped, pulling the menu back up and searching for the sandwich she craved. "Do I get it with tomato dip or without?" Christine asked the man sat opposite her.

Joel didn't even have to think, "Without. You hate tomatoes." he reminded her, pouring some water into a glass from the jug on the table. He took a long sip of it, the whole time his eyes were on Christine, who was furrowing her brows as she tried to decide what else she wanted. Despite her being weary of Seth, he made a mean vegetable hash and she found herself wanting it alongside her breakfast.

"Oh, fuck," She groaned, her stomach grumbling, "I miss hot chocolate." Joel chuckled slightly and noticed the sad look across her face. He plucked the menu from her hands and set it on the sticky tabletop, he replaced where the menu had been with his own hands and ran his thumb along her knuckles.

Christine looked up at him, and thought back to the first time they had met, back when Henry and Sam were still alive and they'd been cooped up in that shitty apartment for days with nothing but each other and some blueberries they'd scavenged. For a moment, she was there again.

* * *

_"Another bad dream?" Sam, Henry's younger brother, asked from across the dark of the room, his eyes reflecting the moonlight and making him look like an infected. In a way, Christine owed her life to those two kids. Henry had practically torn some clickers away from her door and Sam... well, Sam just provided her with that innocence that the youth often possessed, it was refreshing._

_She nodded and quickly came to the realisation that he probably couldn't see her, she she confirmed it with a quick 'yeah,'. There was no point in lying, Sam was well aware of her past situation.  
  
Christine looked at the watch dangling from her belt and realised it was time for her to do another supply run, whilst also doing surveillance on the hunters stationed nearby._

_See, this wasn't where they were supposed to be._

_A couple of days prior, maybe three at most, they'd been separated by hunters and something that resembled a tank. It chased everyone down, some were killed in cold blood, but the rest of them ran like their lives depended on it, which they did._

_Henry, being the quickest thinker among them, pulled Christine and Sam down some dark alley and forced them to keep running until they hit some open windows. The first one was full of infected, so they shut it. The second one was filled with dead bodies. And the third... well, they were currently holed up in the third._

_"Is there anything you want me to look for?" She asked the younger boy whilst lacing her boots and checking her torch was charged. The beam of light flickered for a moment and then steadied itself, shooting directly at Henry who'd appeared out of nowhere. "Jesus!" She cursed, clutching the shirt over her heart with her other hand on the wall to steady her._

_Henry chuckled softly and checked his watch, "Sun's coming up, you should get going." his accent was very indiscriminate and Christine found herself trying to place it to a certain region, but she couldn't._

_Christine grabbed her ice pick and slung her backpack over her tired shoulders, "I'll see you two later, when we leave." in all honesty, she'd grown to like the current safety of their little apartment, but it was only a matter of time before the cities got worse. Buildings were bound to collapse, which would bring more infected, and would end up rendering the cities completely useless in terms of supply runs._

_She approached the window, but immediately rushed backwards when two voices approached from the balcony. A man and a girl, two different accents, two different ages. Christine guessed it was some sort of smuggling issue – something which increased the more the years passed – and she thought back to that one time in Albuquerque._

_"Watch yourself here," The man spoke, balancing along the ledge and Christine could hear his steps as they echoed the closer he got to the window. They clearly weren't hunters. She'd heard gunshots throughout the night and it was probably them entering the QZ._

_Henry, who was now stood opposite to Christine, peeked through to have a look. He mouthed something about it being an older man, dark haired and tall. Henry also said there was a smaller, teenage girl in a red shirt.  
  
Christine gestured to Sam, who was crouched behind the bedroom door with a pistol in his shaking hands._

_A pair of large, calloused hands gripped the window ledge, the watch he wore was broken and mocking Christine as he vaulted himself over and into the room where chaos ensued._

_Christine lunged at him and wrapped her arm around his throat, feeling him flail around underneath her grip as he struggled for air when the girl Henry mentioned appeared out of thin air, the only trace of her being from the knife she slashed Christine's thigh with._

_"E-Ellie!" The man warned, gesturing to sam who was now aiming his gun on her._

* * *

"Chris?" Joel asked again, waving his hand in front of the woman's face, watching as her glassy eyes unfogged. "Hey," Joel squeezed her shoulder gently, "it's alright, I'm here." he offered, the steaming plate of food in front of her reddening her cheeks.

She snapped out of the memories that haunted her and looked across at Joel, "I'm... gonna... um– I'll be right back." she excused herself, leaving her seat and dashing to the bathroom where she locked herself in one of the stalls and bit her hand, hard in an attempt to muffle her rushed breathing. Christine quickly dropped to the floor and hugged her knees when there was a light knock on the door.

"H–" Joel cleared his throat, unsure of what to do, "Hey, Christine... let me in darlin'," he asked her and waited for the door to unlock. When it did, he saw her on the floor and his face fell when he noticed the light bruise forming on her palm where she'd bitten herself. "Oh, sweetheart," he cooed, crouching down to her level and pulling her into his chest.

Christine let out a sob. "Fuck, Joel, does it get easier?"

"I'm sorry?" He replied, not entirely sure what the younger woman was hinting at.

"Losing someone, fuck," She hiccuped, "I don't think I'll get over it." her palm was on Joel's chest and she drummed her fingers along to the beat of his heart, like one of those cheesy romantic films they'd shown at the theatre. Of course she'd forced him to go along with her, that was part of the fun in watching it.

"Losin' Sarah was... hard." Joel admitted, his eyes tearing up as he recalled his daughter's final moments, "but, even when life beats the crap outta you, you've just gotta find something worth fightin' for." As soon as the words left his mouth, Joel realised that the things that kept him going were inside these town walls. One being Ellie and one being the woman in his arms.

He stood up to his full height, knees cracking as he did so, and held his hand out for Christine. "I say we go finish our breakfast, what say you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: My laptop has broken so updated might be a bit longer as i’m doing it on mobile currently!
> 
> Thanks for the continued support x

Christine stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the church, it had been a while since she last prayed to anyone, not that she really believed in it anyway, and she watched as a steady flow of volunteers made their way into the church whilst carrying boxes of decorations and lights. Of course Maria would want her to help, Christine was one of the younger women who actually still worked out in the gym they'd set up. She was pretty sure Kelly and Maria were the only other two who frequented the gym as much as she did.

As she began making her way inside, a pair of feet started jogging to catch up, and a distinctly sweet voice called out for her to wait up; Maria. She had her arms filled with boxes and a clipboard was balanced on top of the biggest box, in her hands she held a blue coffee mug with some logo on it.

"You're twenty-three minutes late, Chrissy, is everything okay?" She questioned, as her friend chewed on a toothpick Joel had given her after she complained about some food being stuck in between her teeth. She turned to face Maria, her hands rooted deeply into her jacket pockets, and saw Maria’s grey eyes sparkling like broken glass in the dim light coming through the clouds overhead.

Christine tried to hide her happiness, but it was borderline impossible considering how she got butterflies whenever she thought of Joel, "Yeah," Christine laughed, "Everything's great!" she realised she must've looked like some sort of crazed idiot as this huge smile plastered was across her cold face. God, she was so bad at trying to hide her emotions. She told Maria how she went out for breakfast with Joel, and instantly regretted it as multiple pairs of eyes landed on the two friends. She swore internally as she realised how she’d just tattled on herself. Knowing everyone there, they'd have the whole town knowing within the hour.

Surprisingly, Maria just nodded, which in itself was a gross underreaction. Out of everyone, Christine expected her friend to be over the moon with it, Maria was always on about how her and Joel were 'so cute' around each other, and how they acted like a married couple, even during arguments and debates. There was this one time, a couple of months ago now, where Ellie, Joel and Christine had been invited for a meal at Tommy's. And Ellie, of course, had to bring up the most controversial topic about whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza.

* * *

_Christine was stood within her best friend’s personal space, smelling his soap and staring up at him. Joel, on the other hand, was looking down at the younger woman, her brown eyes comparing to coffee in the light from Tommy’s dining room._

_”Fruit does not belong on pizza!” Joel stressed, his hands on Christines cheeks as he tried to get his message across._

_He watched as a wicked grin plastered across her face, “Yeah? Tomatoes are fruit, Cowboy,” she teased, crinkling her nose as dust infiltrated her nostrils._

_”Pineapple on pizza is hideous!” Joel hollered, letting go of his best friend and pulling a disgusted face._

_Still sat at the table was Ellie, Tommy and Maria, who were busy laughing away at their friends as Ellie drew them debating the topic. It went on for hours, even when Ellie and Joel walked Christine home during the middle of the night._

* * *

Maria held the door open for her, and they stepped into the warmly lit church, where numerous friends were already packing away church decorations into boxes and replacing them with the appropriate seasonal ones. They'd been in a comfortable silence for a few minutes now, and Christine was the one to break the silence by asking her friend what she had planned for the day, whilst also trying to scope out Joel's name on the schedule. Maria took a sip from the coffee mug and offered her friend some of the fruit drink she'd been glugging down, but she politely declined.

Inside the church, it was warm and the lighting was intimate, the only exception being from the cold beam of winter sun which shot through the stained glass mural overlooking the altar. Due to the lack of other religious buildings in Jackson, the church housed a multitude of different holy books in an attempt to accomodate for the different faiths the residents of the town had. Obviously, there were different rooms dedicated for worship, as some religions held different methods of worship. The main room of the church, however, was used mainly for town meetings and the numerous events we had, the next one being the winter dance tomorrow at 7-11pm.

"Well," Maria started, making her friend jump, "I'm gonna need you to help Ellie with shovelling snow away from the entrance, and then..." she dragged out the last syllable whilst reading the list on her clipboard, scanning for the next event on Christine’s schedule, "You'll be on food duty with Seth." 

The moment Maria said his name, Christine’s chest tightened in anxiousness and she groaned in protest, "Hey, I can't swap you, them's the breaks." Maria spoke and her friend looked at her with disdain.

"Fine." She complied. God, Christine disliked that guy since the moment she lived in Jackson. There was just something about him that put her on constant edge around him, maybe it was the rumors about him saying distasteful things about residents, or maybe it was the rumor about what he'd done to survive pre-Jackson. She still was nice to him, because she'd not seen that side of him, and Christine knew what the rumor spreading was like in the town.

Hell, Joel had told her that Seth had said some shit about Ellie, which just pissed Christine off, and Seth knew she didn't like him because of it. Thinking about it, she'd rather be with Joel, embarrassing herself like the last time she was on event duty. That was so so awkward and it still haunted her, mainly because Tommy and Joel never shut their mouths about what she'd said, and partially because it was the only time she'd hinted about her feelings for Joel.

Christine noticed Maria had written something down next to her name, "So, you and Joel, huh?" she asked, not even looking up from what she was doing. Christine felt her face flush with heat and noticed the side eyes she was receiving from a load of the residents. Nosy bastards. This was awkward, why can't she hide her feelings?

And why the hell does everyone love gossip in this town?

"Listen, Maria," Christine hissed whilst she dragged her friend towards a quiet corner of the church, "I went over to his last night and stayed until, like two hours ago. We went for breakfast and then he walked me home," she told her, quickly adding how it was just 'Joel being Joel', which in itself was a lie. Everyone in this town knew him, and most people knew he had a soft spot for christine and Ellie – more for her than Ellie considering they hadn't spoken in months.

Maria raised her eyebrows, she knew it too, "Well, tell me something I don't know!" She laughed, drawing the attention of more volunteers, and placed her hand onto Christine’s slumped shoulder, "Hun, the whole damn town knows, everyone's been on about it since Tommy saw you and Joel in the street by Seth's." she revealed, squeezing the tension in her friend’s shoulders.

Christine watched her friend put down the boxes, which had been balanced in one hand for a few minutes now, and felt a slight panic rising in her chest.

"Oh, fuck," She cursed, suddenly forgetting she was in a church and, most likely, was being disrespectful, "What about... What about Ellie? Has anyone told her or-" Christine asked, hoping and praying that the gossip hadn't reached her and that she could discuss it with Ellie first. Ellie and Christine always discussed things together, they were extremely close, even with her and Joel losing touch. She just didn't want Ellie to think she'd gone behind her back, especially when Ellie had come out to her as a lesbian in confidence.

Maria's face fell like a ton of bricks and Christine watched anxiously as she checked picked up the schedule and read it, "Uh... She's out on patrol with Jesse, she should be back... uh, now, actually." 

She looked at Maria and Maria shook her head, saying how Christine was meant to be volunteering at the church and not going off out into the town all 'willy nilly'.

"Maria, we both know, if I ran out of here right now, you wouldn't stop me." She declared ballsily. Christine had no clue what Maria would do, she was just hoping her relationship with Maria would count for something at least. Her heart was racing in her chest, anticipating her movements. It would take less than two minutes to reach the stable if Christine sprinted, four if she walked speedily. She could totally do it, just make a break for it and not stop. 

Easy right?

"Christine Abernathy, don't you dare-" Maria was cut off as her friend dashed past her and down the steps of the church, narrowly avoiding colliding into Jesse's mom. Christine yelled back some apology to her before leaping over the bottom three steps and hitting the sidewalk and bursting into a sprint. Hell, she didn't even know if Maria was following her or not, she just knew she had to get to Ellie before anyone else told her.

What the fuck was she thinking?

Christine rounded the corner, past the houses for larger families, and took a shortcut through someone's backyard, vaulting over their wall at the end like the good old days out in the wild. She stumbled forwards slightly and skidded across the alley into a clearing where she could see it, The Jackson Ranch. Christine was so close to getting there when she noticed the gate had begun opening and a stream of riders made their way into the barn. She jogged the last hundred metres and hunched over by the gate to catch her breath as the riders started to go back to their homes.

Jesse sauntered out first, his tan jacket and cowboy hat making him look like he was from some old Western movie. He had his hands looped through his belt hoops – something Joel always did – and he was followed out by Ellie, who was still laughing from whatever joke Jesse had just told her.

"Hey, Mrs Miller," He joked, approaching Christine and tipped his hat in a chivalrous manner.

She shot him an annoyed look, "Ha ha, that's so funny." she deadpanned, still nervous from what Maria had told her a few minutes earlier.

Ellie, who was now stood awkwardly to the side, was avoiding looking at Christine. It was like she didn't want to see her, and that's when it hit her; someone had beat Christine to her, she knew about what happened with her and Joel. Christine watched as Ellie kicked the snow beneath her boot awkwardly.

"El, can I borrow you for a minute?" Christine asked, her heart racing through her chest like it was about to burst out of it and land in Jesse's hands. Speaking of Jesse, he'd made himself scarce by looking at some flyers about volunteer work being needed.

She mumbled a sure and waved goodbye to Jesse, who in turn gave Ellie a small wave and a discreet look to ask if she was alright, which she waved off.

They walked together over to one of the snow shovelling trucks they had in Jackson, and Christine unlocked it with the keys she'd been given a few days back from Tommy. She held the passenger door open for Ellie and she mumbled a thanks before shutting it and rubbing her upper arms with her gloved hands. Christine walked back to the driver’s side of the truck and kept replaying how she wanted the conversation to go. Deep down, she knew it would be difficult but Ellie was one of the most understanding people out there. Christine climbed into the car and stuck the keys in the ignition.

"So," She started, turning on the engine and being ambushed with the hot air from the car's heat systems. The CD someone put in came on, full blast, making her and Ellie swear in unison. She turned it down and turned to face the younger girl. "I don't know what you've heard, but–"

Ellie cut her off, "Is it true? You and _Joel_? Y'know, I just find it funny how Tommy was the first to tell me." Ellie spat, making Christine grip the steering wheel tighter out of nervousness and not wanting to upset one of the people she'd take a bullet for.

Christine cussed under her breath and tapped the steering wheel awkwardly, "Can I explain first? You know what Tommy's like with rumors." she reversed the truck, her hand gripping onto the headrest of Ellie's seat.

Ellie rested her arm along the window, grabbing the emergency handle, and replied, "Fine." before she sniffled.

Taking a deep breath, Christine put the car into drive and drove back towards the church, "So, I don't know if I've told you, but I've had nightmares for – well – years now. And, last night, I dreamt about losing Joel back at the hospital, when he got impaled," she took a moment to wave at some kids so they could cross the road, and waved when she saw Dina walking across, "So I went over to his, just to talk about it... he gets these nightmares too, but they're about losing Sarah and, sometimes, you. Anyway," Christine continued, driving around to the front of the church and starting to plough through the snow.

"So, it was pretty late when I went, and Joel offered me his spare room." Ellie looked across at her as she focused on the road and shovelled the snow over to the side of the road, "Nothing else happened, I swear on my life," she told the younger woman.

Ellie pulled a face of disbelief and laughed softly, "That's not what half the town are saying, Christine." Christine hated when she used her first name, it was something so harsh compared to using the nicknames they’d given each other.

"We went for breakfast this morning, Joel fell over," She told Ellie, stopping the car and finally facing her, "I tried to help him up, but he thought it'd be hilarious to pull me on top of him. That's all, Ellie, I swear." She watched as Ellie picked at her cuticles whilst trying to process what she’d just been told, her face changing between a multitude of emotions before falling flat again.

She turned to face Christine, resting her hands in her lap, "I don't know what you want me to say?" she asked, clearly not knowing what she was supposed to say.

"Fuck, uh," Christine cursed, turning the music down a bit more, "I just wanted to tell you because..." she paused for a moment. _Is this really the right time to tell her you have a thing for her father figure? Well, would there ever be a 'good' time to do it? Fuck_. "I have feelings for Joel, I always have and I think I always will. But, I understand that might be something you're not okay with and I wanted to talk to you about it. If you're not comfortable with it, I can just tell him we're staying friends, nothing more." 

The emotion on her face went from nothing to a smile tugging at her lips, she knew how close him and Christine were and Ellie understood that, even though she'd known him for less time, he'd discuss his past with her more. Christine could remember one night, before he'd been injured, he was on watch for people and infected when she'd woken up from a bad dream, he'd told her about his own dreams and his nightmares, of Sarah and his ex wife. In a way, Christine felt like she knew him pre-apocalypse.

"Chris, fuck," Ellie breathed, her voice shaking with sentiment, "You're... you're like a mom to me, and Joel is... well, y'know, he's like a dad to me." she said, tears in her voice. "I adore you two so fucking much... I don't know if I can forgive Joel, but I do know that I want you both to be happy. So, if you were wanting my permission or whatever, you have it." 

Christine looked down into her lap, feeling the immense love she had for Ellie growing and maturing into a more maternal instinct for her, "I never want you to think I would go behind your back with something like this, El," She felt her eyes on her and suddenly, without warning, Ellie wrapped her arms around Christine’s shoulders and pulled her into her own shoulder where she hugged her. It was a small gesture but it was one that made Christine feel loved by her.

"Oh, also," She cleared my throat whilst pulling out of the hug. "Maria might come yell at me in a minute because I ran off, so – uh – just sit quiet, yeah?" 

Ellie laughed at Christine and rolled her eyes, "Man, she's such a tight woman at times," Christine could remember the first time they’d met her, after Sam and Henry's death, and Ellie just immediately disliked her, said she was too anal about everything. That was before Ellie stole a horse and ran off, of course. "What've you got after this?" Ellie asked, pulling her journal out of her bag.

"I'm on food prep with fuckin' Seth," She groaned in response, pinching the bridge of her button nose. Ellie laughed to herself and mentioned that she hated that guy. It was gonna be a long day today.

* * *

When Christine had finished with her daily jobs, it was 8pm and her hands smelled of garlic. She’d spent hours slaving away over a bolognese that Seth couldn't be bothered making himself, and had somehow spilled yogurt down her front, which looked suspiciously like something else, and she tried to hide it by pulling her jacket tighter around her chest. Miraculously, the temperature had dropped again, this time bringing along sleet and thunder – something Joel said was extremely rare – and Christine rushed through the town and made her way back to her house, which was next to her best friend, Tommy's house.

As she walked along, she noticed a hunched over figure in the dim light spewing out from his house; Tommy.

"Hey, Florida," Tommy yelled, using the nickname he'd given his best friend, and took a sip from the glass in his hands, "We're having a few drinks, d'you want some?" he asked. Christine looked at him and noticed he was wearing one of Maria's pairs of shoes and held back the laughter bubbling in her chest, fucking Tommy of all people. She responded with a sure and made her way up onto the porch, avoiding the broken step Joel had promised he'd fix weeks ago.

Tommy turned to face her and she noticed the red tinge to his cheeks as the alcohol made its mark on him, "Nice night, ain't it?" he asked sarcastically, a crash of thunder rolling in the distance. Man, she liked Tommy. He had this amazingly fast sense of humor, and he was one of those people who make light of every situation. He was one of those people you'd choose first in sports, there was little he couldn't do.

"I have a bone to pick with you, Texas." Christine told him and watched as the color drained from his usually bright face, "I'm kidding, just stop spreading rumors, you fuckin' moron," She laughed and lightheartedly punched him in the arm. There was music pouring through one of the open windows and she realised she recognised the voice singing; Joel. Christine listened to the lyrics and how he sang them in his deep, Texan accent.

 _'I'm just a poor, wayfaring stranger,'_ It was a song he'd sung a lot, most often when he was on his porch alone on an evening. She could sometimes hear it if she had her windows open and there was no wind. Tommy picked up on his best friend listening to his older brother singing and pulled an intrigued face before he invited her inside, holding the front door as he let her in.

Inside his and Maria's house were multiple people Christine recognised, and a handful of those she didn't. They were all watching Joel as he played one of the guitars he'd made himself, and she noticed Ellie sat in the corner, a beer between her legs, and her notebook in her hands as she drew Joel playing his instrument. Christine leant against the wall and Ellie looked directly at her, smiling until she pointed at the stain on her friend’s shirt. Christine mouthed that it was yogurt, but Ellie raised her eyebrows in an amused manner and did a rude gesture with her hands.

The older woman looked at her in shock whilst Tommy just chuckled from behind her, "It's not that bad, is it?" She asked him, pulling the fabric out as to get a better look at the stain. Surely enough, Ellie had been right in her non-verbal description of what it looked like. Tommy wet his lips with his tongue and tilted his head to the side.

"Yep, looks like jizz," He deadpanned, swigging more of the liquid in his glass.

Joel, who was now reaching the end of the chorus, had been drowned out by the crowd of people joining in with the song. He looked up for a moment, his dark eyes scanning the familiar faces until he landed on Christine and quickly looked back down to the guitar.

"Hey, d'you have any spare shirts?" She asked Tommy and felt disappointed when he shook his head. She didn't notice earlier, but his blonde hair framed his face nicely and she'd be tempted to say he was attractive if she wasn't scared of Maria yelling at her. Luckily for Christine, Joel existed too, who was older but with age comes experience, and he was someone she felt deeply for. She remembered that she had a tank top on underneath her stained shirt and made her way to the back of the crowd so she could discreetly pull it off.

Christine passed by Jesse and Dina, who were both sat on the floor, and squeezed past Jesse's dad into the corner of the room, hidden by friends. Without anyone looking, she pulled her leather jacket off, the dark, worn material still cold from the weather it'd endured, and she put it between her thighs so as to not lose sight of it. Christine pulled the shirt over her head, and felt the cooler air wrapping around her body, and she glanced at the tattoo on her forearm.   
  
Cat, Ellie's ex girlfriend, had done it a couple of years back, and it was gorgeous. Joel wasn't fond of it, but as Christine reminded him, she wanted it so Ellie didn't feel weird about her own tattoo. Christine got a snake, which slithered across her inner arm with blossoms around its body, it was stunning.

She carried on changing her appearance by pulling her hair out of the ponytail and giving it a shake with her hands. She put my jacket back on and thought about how excited Joel had been when he found her a 'proper winter jacket', whatever that meant.

The music had stopped now, with most people milling around the doorway as they realised how late it was. Christine turned to find Tommy, but instead crashed into the man himself, Joel Miller. 

"Oh, jeez! I'm so sorry!" She apologised, stepping backwards with her shirt in hand. Joel looked at it and tilted his head to the side gently, as if trying to process what it was. 

His face went through a multitude of different emotions as he tried to figure it out, and he finally settled, "You heard I was here, so you stripped down?" He joked and his friend glared at him in disdain, he thought he was so funny at times.

"I got yogurt on it when I was working with Seth, get your head outta the gutter." She complained, showing him the stain on the shirt in her small hands. Joel looked Christine over in a sweeping glance, his hazel eyes drinking in her appearance as she stood in front of him.

He cleared his throat gently, "You look really good," he complimented, her cheeks flaring up with heat. Luckily, it was a fairly dark corner of the room they were in, so hopefully Joel wouldn't be able to see her blush at all.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Cowboy," She returned the compliment and added the nickname that used to irk him back when they’d met, and mainly because she used it to poke fun at him and his accent, "So, what'd you get up to today?" she asked him innocently, falling so that her back rested against the wall behind her. 

Joel brought one of his hands up and squeezed the tension from his collarbone in his large, tanned hand, "Me 'n' Tommy were clearin' some infected from the town North of here," he told Christine whilst massaging his shoulder, "I think I threw my shoulder out when Tokyo threw me off'a him," Joel laughed and then groaned when he felt the pain spiking through his shoulder.

"Lemme see," She told him and watched him pull his shirt to the side where a yellowing bruise sat, "Jesus, Joel," she whispered, and ran the tips of her fingers over his skin, causing him to suck in a harsh breath of air through his teeth. She whispered an apology and let the ghost of her touch linger on his skin.

The room was empty now, clearly because she'd come over right when most people were about to leave, and there were only a handful of people left inside. Ellie wasn't anywhere to be seen and neither were her two best friends, who were now probably on their way to go sledding – as per tradition – she noticed Tommy walking over to where her and Joel were stood and pulled her hand away from his older brother's chest.

"Hey, Chris, Maria has a spare–" Tommy stopped himself the moment he took note of Joel's bruise, "Jesus Christ, Joel, that looks... bad," he said, making his way over to the pair and weaseling himself between Christine and his older brother. She watched, amused, as Tommy prodded the yellowing skin and Joel kept trying to grab his brother's hands.

It went on for a few more minutes, the whole time Joel giving the woman in front of him a 'help me' look whilst swatting his brother, "Tommy – I am – It's fine, just," he swatted his brother's hands away from his injury, "Quit it, would ya?" He groaned.

Christine wedged herself between the two brothers and faced her best friend, "Don't make me tickle you, Texas," she warned, wiggling her fingers and slowly moving them closer to him. Tommy looked at Christine, his eyes widening.

"Joel, make her stop, c'mon, please don't," He brought his hands up to try and shield himself, "Please don't... Joel!" Tommy shrieked as the small girl jabbed her cold fingers under his ribs and started to sporadically tickle him, Tommy yelped in discomfort and Maria ran over, worrying about her husband.

Christine saw Maria’s face change from fear to disapproval, "What in the hell are you three idiots doin'?" she questioned, standing behind her husband and watching the three of them as they looked at her like deer caught in the headlights.

Christine held her hands up, "I didn't do anything I swear," she lied giving Joel a wink, whilst the pair spoke in unison.

"Tommy started it," He accused and pointed his finger at his brother.

Maria rolled her eyes, "It's getting late anyway, a few people have already left, and you, Missy," she playfully jabbed one of her well maintained fingers into Christine’s chest, "have double voulunteerin' tomorrow before the dance." Maria told her and she groaned in mock protest. Christine didn't mind doing extra work, but she wanted the extra time to sort her outfit out before the dance. Everyone around here dressed like cowboys, which she didn't mind, but she still didn't know what to wear. "It's what you get for running off!" Maria called out.

"You ran off?" The two brothers said in unison and Christine pulled a very unimpressed face towards Maria, who had her arms wrapped around her husband.

Christine looked across at Joel and he pulled a face that just screamed, 'you're crazy for doing that,', Tommy, on the other hand, looked incredibly impressed that Christine ran off. Around Jackson, she wasn't known for going against orders and rules that were put in place, they were there to make the town safe, but this time was different.

"Pfft," She scoffed, "I would never do that..." There was a pause as her friends called her out on her lie, "Anyway, what exactly am I doing tomorrow?" She asked Maria and watched her friend try to recall it from memory. She paused, as if not remembering it, when Tommy spoke up.

"You're with me, we're sorting out what music is playin' at the dance." He told her and her face dropped, it was a boring job. There were so many rules about what people could and couldn't play based on the content of the songs, which she understood, but half of the songs were shit, "They've gotta be PG," Tommy confirmed and she groaned, which earned a chuckle from Joel.

"Half of the kids here swear more than Joel!" Christine offered, putting her hand on Joel's upper arm and squeezing it gently. She paused for a moment as his muscles tensed below her hands, which made her feel weak at the knees.

Joel looked down at his friend and pulled a jokingly insulted face, "I don't swear that much! Not as much as Tommy anyway." Joel bit back and Christine pressed her lips together in an attempt to deafen her developing laughter. Tommy looked at his brother and mouthed something extremely rude, which caused the younger girl to burst out laughing.

"C'mon, Chris," Joel started, "We best get goin'," he drawled, placing his hand on the small of her back to lead her over to the front door of Maria and Tommy's house. Joel stopped for a moment, one hand still on her back and the other reaching for the door handle, "D'you wanna come over to mine?" he asked and Tommy raised his eyebrows in interest.

Christine groaned, jumping to the assumption her loudmouth of a best friend would make some sort of inappropriate comment about, what she was sure, would be a lighthearted gesture of just two friends catching up. She tucked some of her hair behind her ears, "Sure thing, Cowboy," Christine replied before kissing her teeth and adding, "You got any of that pie?" to which Tommy looked interested at.

"Yeah, I think I do," Joel responded, which caused Tommy to groan, "You don't get any," Joel declared and dramatically held his elbow out for Christine to loop her arm through. Joel opened the door and lead her out onto the porch, his breath misting like little speech bubbles in front of his ruggedly handsome face. He used his breath to heat up his hands and subconsciously – or without making a big deal of it – rubbed Christine’s forearm to heat it up.

Maria was stood in the doorway with her husband, "I'll see you two tomorrow morning," she farewelled, Tommy hugging her sideways like a lost child.

"C'mon, Cowboy." Christine laughed and she started to lead Joel down the steps as they made their way over to his house. 

* * *

The walk over was comfortably quiet, the two of them just enjoying the silence that the snow provided as it fell from the dark sky above Jackson. Christine still had her arm looped through his and was enjoying the heat he provided. They’d taken a shortcut through the cemetery near his house and he gave Christine his jacket to put over the one she already wore. Obviously, she'd protested considering she was warm enough with hers on, but Joel being Joel, insisted she wore it for 'extra protection'.

Together, they neared the gate, which was shut but unlocked and Joel opened it, "Hey, wait," he spoke as Christine made my way into the street, "You've never told me where you were on outbreak day," the moment his words left his lips, she stopped dead in her tracks. The only person that she had ever told was Sam, and he had died with the story, another ghost to haunt her.

She shoved my hands deeper into her pockets, "Uh, I was..." she laughed awkwardly, "Fuck... uh," Joel could tell he'd struck a nerve, mainly because Christine _always_ had something to say, and now she was facing away from him to try and hide the tears in her tired eyes. Sure, Joel had told her about Sarah and about everything that happened from there, him going to a triage centre to get his gunshot wound looked at, running from the recently infected, making it to a QZ, but Christine had never told him about what happened down in Florida.

"You don't have to-" Joel started, shutting the gate behind him and placed his hand on Christine’s shoulder.

She shrugged his hand off, "What I remember most," her voice failed her and she cleared her throat, "What I remember most, from when we got the news in Orlando, was that I was in a mall with my husband and, uh... our son," Joel was looking at Christine with pity in his eyes as they made their way to his porch. He lead her up the stairs and she watched him lean against the rail whilst gesturing for her to sit in the rocking chair and carry on.

"His name, fuck," Christine drew in a shaky breath as she sat down, her hands were shaking, she didn't want Joel to hate her, "His name was Will and he was thirteen... he was thirteen months old. I had him when I was eighteen and, um, yeah." She folded her hands into her lap to hide the shaking and didn't dare look at Joel, "We were in the food court, just waiting in line with him in his pram and his father pushing him along the queue when, out of nowhere, _dozens_ of phones rang, one after the other. People were fucking screaming and sobbing, people were frantically praying to every single God I've ever heard of and there was this... this deafening chorus of sound that just terrified me. I thought, 'Oh fuck, Christine, this is it, you're about to die.', and I look at my husband, his face had this expression I'd never seen on his face before, and man he was an animated person, he just looked as if he was about to pass out from fear." 

She felt the breeze make its way up her back and shivered before continuing, "He turns to me, and he says, 'Chrissy, we've gotta go, they're saying people are turnin' on each other' and I look at him and... I didn't hear him. He must've said it, like, ten times before I snapped out of the paralytic state I was in and I see he's picked our son up and we're no longer in the food court, but we're in the parking lot. There's people driving around like crazed idiots and we get to our car, but right as we get there, this woman – who must've been in her eighties – just... just lunges for him. I think I screamed but you never really know, and Will was crying his eyes out because he was seeing first hand as his dad got bitten by some wrinkly flesh eater. Some other guy comes along and just shoves her to the floor and stamps her head in and there's brain matter everywhere and I'm crying and Will is crying and my husband is now bleeding from a bite and this guy, who's like an angel, looks down at me and picks up my son and he grabs my hand, 'Lady, we gotta go, we need to go North,' is all he says and he's dragging me to a pickup truck where some other people are already sat and I'm just looking at the love of my life and screaming for him.

So this guy then shoves me in the car and says how there's 'nothing we could've done' and how he was 'infected' and I had no clue what was going on at all! I was just sat there, my son still crying in my arms, and we're stuck in the parking lot so he turns the truck around and drives it through the mall, which I thought was fucking insane, and there's people running towards us, infected running after those people, and we get out to the other side and it's just... empty. There's no one there. So we drove as far as we could before we ran out of gas, and from there it was on foot with the half a dozen of us. We get to this really tiny town, there's like a church and about three houses, some of the men start to clear it out and Will needed a pee so I took him into the church..." she paused again. "I took him into the church, thinking there'd be a toilet somewhere... I take one step in, another, the whole time Will is in my arms, and I'm suddenly pulled into the air, dropping him onto the ground. Someone'd set a trap and the next thing I knew there was this... this _thing_ making these guttural sounds and clicking but it ran at me – I didn't know it was a stalker then, obviously, but it ran at me. I was too high up for it, but... fuck... Joel, he was right there on the floor, I could've done something, I...I could've grabbed the infected and screamed for help but I didn't... and, when the group found me, I'd passed out from all the blood going to my head, I woke up to a gunshot and then to being carried out of the church by the guy who saved me in the parking lot." Christine didn't realise she was crying until she felt Joel's thumb dragging along her cheek in a soothing manner.

There was an eerie silence that fell over the pair, drowning her in guilt and sorrow that somehow, she’d repressed and replaced with quick witted remarks and happiness. The only reason she told Sam was because he heard Christine crying in her sleep a few days after they'd saved her, and even then she hadn't told him the full story... she didn’t think she could ever tell anyone what happened after Florida. Not even Joel.

He said something to her, but she couldn't hear it over her quickened breathing and she felt him disappear into his house, leaving her on the porch before he returned with a plate of pie and a glass of water.

”Here, you should eat,” He told the crying woman, handing her the pie and she looked to see what filling it had.

”Joel! You made cherry pie?” Christine asked him and he scratched his head awkwardly.

”Well, uh,” He laughed softly, “I know it’s your favorite flavour.” Joel produced a fork for himself and took a bite from her slice of pie.

She looked at him in shock, mouth full of pie, “Dude? You can’t do that.” She complained and added, “That’s what people do on dates in those corny films.”

Joel ran his thumb along his bottom lip and straightened himself out, “How about we call this a date, then?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Smut
> 
> Please don’t read this chapter if you’re uncomfortable with smut! There will be nothing involved with the plot in here so please skip if you’re uncomfortable!

“Y’know,” Christine started, finishing the bite she was chewing, “You don’t usually talk about depressing topics on a first date, Cowboy.” she looked across as Joel raised his eyebrows and dove his fork back into the pie.

He took a bite, “So you’re agreeing, it’s a date?” Joel cockily asked with his mouth full of pie. For a while, after they’d met, Christine had this immense desire to hook up with Joel... it had been a while and Joel was an attractive guy, even if he had been a bit of a dick beforehand. Joel was exactly the type of man Christine was attracted to, he was tall, strong, quick witted and he was extremely good with the whole end of the world stuff. The only downside to him was that he had his fair share of issues, which made her reluctant to trust him in an intimate setting.

“Mhm,” Christine replied, swallowing another bite of pie before she sunk her fork back for more. Her fork met resistance and she looked at the other fork trying to steal her bite; Joel. “Oh, c’mon!” She groaned, trying to whack his fork away. “That’s mine!”

Joel looked behind his friend, his eyes widening and his hands going to his gun holster — he was one of the few people still allowed a weapon inside the walls — and he began to rise from his chair when he said something about an infected being within the town walls. He felt a smirk tug on his face as he tried to hide the fact he was acting, and he watched Christine shoot up and hold her fork defensively whilst looking around. 

She scanned the street, looking out for the imposter, when she realised what Joel had done, “You suck,” she complained as she turned back to face him. He mumbled something in response and Christine found herself just admiring the man in front of her. The porch light made him look younger than he was and she watched as a red tinge spread across his cheeks whilst he finished the bite of pie.

“Take a picture,” He started, “It’ll last longer.” Christine rolled her eyes and pulled the jacket he’d given her off. “Stripping again?” He quipped and felt the material of his jacket fall in his lap. Christine continued and pulled off the jacket below Joel’s and balled it up before chucking it at him. Joel caught it one handed and placed it over the side of the chair he was sat on.

She pulled her vest top straps up, “What if I am?” she teased and watched Joel’s face redden more. “I’m kidding, loosen up a little.” Christine watched in amusement as he cleared his throat and pulled the collar of his shirt to the side.

”Chris, you’ve gotta bit of pie filling... right...no, not there,” he tried to mirror where his friend had the filling, but she missed it every time, “Let me,” Joel offered, and took Christine’s chin in his warm hand whilst removing the food with his thumb. She watched Joel as he struggled to decide what he was going to do with the mixture on his fingers.

Christine laughed, “What?” she entertained, her eyes sparkling dangerously, “Do you want me to lick it off for you?” she offered jokingly. 

The man in front of her suddenly changed and his gaze was more deadly and intimidating than one she’d ever seen before, something sparked inside of her, something dangerously flirty, and she was intrigued by the danger the man in front of her possessed. There was something exciting about feeling scared, especially in a sexual setting. Christine felt him lightly tug her mouth open and watched him intently as his thumb entered her mouth, the sweetness from the cherry pie making her moan against his touch.

As quick as he’d put it there, Joel’s thumb had left, giving Christine a moment to process what she’d just done with the man she so deeply adored. He looked down at her before standing up and offering the young girl his hand.

”Do you want to continue this inside?” He asked, wanting her consent before he continued further.

Christine felt warmth flooding through her veins and her legs felt shaky when she stood up, she tried to remain confident and replied, “I thought you’d never ask,” which caused Joel to smirk deviously at her. She took his hand and felt him lead her through the darkness of his home and up to his bedroom before he stopped at the door to, what she could only assume, was his bedroom.

”Are you sure?” He asked one more time, making every effort possible to ensure she was comfortable.

Christine paused for a moment, suddenly worried about whether or not Joel was into some weird kinks. Tommy had joked this one time on patrol about something Joel had done with some ex of his pre apocalypse and she wondered if it was something she should be weary of.

”I’m positive,” She replied, all caution had been thrown into the wind and it was now the two of them, alone in Joel’s house. 

She watched in great interest as Joel opened his bedroom door, Christine had always imagined it to be messy with guitars and records strewn everywhere, but she was surprised to find everything neatly placed in his room. Attached to the bedroom was a small walk in closet and an en suite bathroom, which housed a bath and a toilet. It was exactly how Joel was, she couldn’t quite elaborate on it, but his room made sense to be this way. Christine took a step forwards and noticed two picture frames on a side table below a bay window, each frame containing a photograph of Joel and family. There was Sarah, holding onto a football trophy pre apocalypse, and then there was him and Ellie, in Jackson barn with a horse. Christine was at home with the flu when that had been taken.

She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when Joel spun her around to face him, “You have no idea how long i’ve wanted to do this,” he growled in her ear, one hand rooted into her hair whilst the other pressed the small of her back into his waist. Christine brought her hand up to create some space where she looked up at the man holding her.

”Ditto, Cowboy,” She slurred, moving her face so as to kiss him easier. Joel crashed his lips into hers in a sloppy, desperate kiss that flooded them both with insatiable desire. She felt Joel move his hand down and squeeze her ass, which made her moan softly against his lips. 

Christine tugged on Joel’s hair, which was shaggy and long compared to what he usually had, and felt a certain pressure pushing against her stomach. She moved her hands to the collar of his jacket where she tore it off him, letting it drop onto the hardwood floor with a thud. 

She moved to pull his shirt off when she felt his hands wrap around her wrists, “Let me,” he enforced, pushing her backwards so that she sat on the bed in front of him. Her eyes stalking his every move as he removed his shirt and threw it behind him, his muscles contracting and expanding as he did. 

“Is that...” Christine started, her eyes not leaving the purple scar across his lower abdomen. She moved forwards slightly and brushed her fingertips over the scar he’d acquired in a hospital and he moved his hand to her scalp, massaging the crown of her head as her hands made their way to the belt holding up his dark wash jeans. She looked up at Joel only to find his eyes were shut as he enjoyed every little touch Christine left.

When she’d unbuckled the belt, she unzipped his jeans and let them fall to the ground, leaving him in his Navy blue underwear and exposed to Christine. Joel sucked in a breath of air as Christine pulled his boxers down, his erection springing up as she freed it.

At first, she was shocked at how big it was, but then, when she wrapped her hand around it, she realised how much of a gift it would be. 

“Fuck, Joel,” She breathed, “You’re so big,” Joel grunted in response and she felt him tighten his grip in her hair, tugging lightly. She curled her hand around his dick and started to pump, adding spit to help her along with pleasuring him. She felt him enjoying it and lowered her mouth to it, putting her lips around his shaft and starting to bob her head along his dick, moving her hand in sync. 

Joel hissed in a breath, “That feels so good, Fuck, Chris.” he complimented, stroking her hair before tugging it softly. He moved his free hand to her hair and placed it alongside his other hand. “If I knew you’d be like this, I’d have done this a lot sooner,” he complemented, sucking in a breath as Christine guessed he was getting closer. He moaned as he reached his climax, releasing in her mouth and finishing on her chest. 

Christine exhaled a laugh, “I guess I’ll need a spare shirt now,” and humoured Joel, who, instead of laughing, pulled the tank top over her head and wiped the cum off her chest before launching it across the room into the pre-existing pile of laundry. She squealed as he pulled her legs towards him, sending her falling backwards on to the sheets of Joel’s bed. She got a sudden rush of his scent, the citrus and woodsy aroma almost suffocating her. 

Her shoes were pulled off and thrown onto the floor with no care taken at all, and she felt the cold air wrapping around her legs as her jeans were stripped off her. It was her turn to suck in a shaky breath of air as Joel pulled her panties down with his teeth — like in some porno that Eugene would talk about when he was high — and let them drop to the floor from his mouth. 

“Look at you, so ready for me,” Joel spoke, his voice dripping with lust as he looked at the woman sprawled out in front of him, “Fuck, I want you so bad.”

Christine pressed her knees together her as she processed what he had said, “Then take me,” she begged. Her eyes the whole time remained on the man in front of her and felt as he instantly pushed himself into her, their hips colliding in a hard, lustful manner.

”Fuck,” She moaned euphorically as Joel thrust into her, her eyes rolling backwards in pleasure whilst her hands knotted into the sheets. 

Joel placed his hand around her throat and applied the slightest amount of pressure, “You look so good with my hand around your throat,” he complemented, thrusting into her and bringing one of her legs up onto his muscular shoulder. He pushed himself deeper into her and hit a spot that made the younger woman moan loudly before cursing in an apology.

”Don’t apologise,” Joel growled, “You sound so hot when you moan,” he felt himself nearing his climax and asked Christine how close she was. She didn’t have time to answer before a euphoric shudder overcame her and she landed on cloud nine, completely overwhelmed by what happened.

Joel pulled out and finished on her before rolling to the side and putting his hand on his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat.

”Don’t tell me I gave you a heart attack,” Christine joked, rolling to face her friend, “Also, you’re so bad at dates,” she complained, earning a chuckle from Joel.

She raised so that she was sitting and ran her hand through her long hair, “I need a shower, care to join?” Christine asked looking down at the man laid next to her. 

Joel looked at her, still out of breath but with a smile tugging at his lips. “Absolutely.” 


	5. Chapter 5

When Christine woke up, a muscular arm was wrapped around her, and she realised she was wearing one of the owner’s shirts. The crimson material draping off her body like a parachute as it was two sizes too large and had never been worn. _God, Joel looks horrendous in red,_ Christine thought, her face scrunching as she removed the arm and sat up to see what time it was. She looked around for a clock and found there wasn’t one in Joel’s bedroom, so she made her way down to the lower floor of the house, wearing only Joel’s shirt and her underwear.

It was a cold winter morning, the sun shooting in through one of the landing windows and drowning the hallway in a glorious golden light that reached all rooms of the house. She took a step forwards, cringing when she realised how cold it was in the living room, and sought out a clock when there was a banging at the front door.

”Christine Abernathy, I know you’re in there!” A distinctly Texan accent shouted, making the woman creeping around the house jump with fright. Of course he was here, it was his brother’s house after all. “It’s 11am what in the hell are you doing here?” He continued yelling for the whole state to hear, and Christine ran over to the door and stupidly tried to unlock it, only to find she wasn’t able to as she didn’t possess a set of keys.

She swore at Joel under her breath and jogged to the window in the lounge which overlooked the balcony, “Tommy, I don’t have any keys,” she laughed slightly, feeling the cold air embrace her the more she leant out of the window.

Her best friend just eyed her up and down, and observed how she was in one of his brother’s shirts and nothing more, “Jesus — fuck — Christine!” Tommy hollered, averting his eyes and turning away, “Can you put something other than my brother’s shirt on?” He asked his best friend, who was now trying to climb out the window to talk to him.

”Calm down, Texas,” She put her hand on the windowsill and knocked a plant pot over, “It’s only skin,” Christine joked, cringing when the pot exploded into a million pieces and scattered across the decking.

Tommy swore under his breath, “Here, just put this on,” he handed Christine the jacket he had been wearing and she wrapped it around herself, the denim brushing her mid thigh and making her shudder.

”What’re you doing here anyway?” She asked her best friend, wrapping her arms in front of her to provide some warmth. 

Tommy scratched his beard and turned to face her, “It’s 11am, Florida,” he deadpanned, looking at Christine who was brushing herself off and trying to not stand in broken ceramics. “You’re supposed to be helping me pick music.” He reminded her, tucking his thumb into his waistband and shifting the weight to one leg like Joel always did.

”Yeah, we can do it here, Joel has a lot of music,” Christine remembered the box of records and the record player sat in Joel’s bedroom, she was pretty sure he had a whole ton of them ranging from country to some rock band Sarah liked. “And, Joel can sing too,” she offered, earning a surprised look from Tommy.

He clicked his tongue right as the door swung open, revealing his older brother, who was wearing some grey sweatpants and a t-shirt, “Chris?” Joel asked, a slight hint of worry prominent in his voice. He whipped his head around from his younger brother to the girl who’d spend the night and he shot over to her in an instant, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. 

“Chill out, old man,” Chris said and pushed herself away from Joel, “Tommy needs to come in for event duty,” she said and Joel looked over to his younger brother.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Tommy managed to guess what happened the night before and Joel cleared his throat, “Do you — uh — d’you want anything to eat?” he asked.

”Sure, I don’t see why not.” Tommy accepted and walked into Joel’s house, leaving Joel and Christine stood on the porch silently. She thought about how weird their relationship had just become, they weren’t dating but she’d just spent the second night in a row at his house, and she’d had sex with him too... maybe they were friends with benefits? But then, Joel said they were on a date when they had pie together.

She wanted to ask him so badly, but. she didn’t want to make it awkward if anything were to end badly, “Joel,” she started. He looked over at her, his hair messy and his eyes still laden with sleep, he looked so adorable.

”Never mind,” She ended and disappeared into the house to find tommy.

* * *

“So, after we’ve finished with the music, Maria wanted me and you to go on patrol,” Tommy said, his eyes not moving from the record in his hands. Christine watched him flip the cover and read the track list, frowning when he noticed the expletives.

A few minutes ago, Joel had been called to do a sound check before the dance, which left Christine and Tommy sprawled out in Joel’s living room, still eating the omelette his older brother had made the pair of them before he left. Christine looked over towards the pile again, this time spotting a familiar face on one of the album covers.

”Oh, no way! Joel has Elvis?” She asked no one in particular and stole it from Tommy’s soft, warm hands. He looked over at his best friend and furrowed his brows in confusion. “Not to get ahead of myself, but as a kid, I always wanted my first dance to this song.” She told Tommy, pointing at the track on the list.

Tommy laughed, “Love Me Tender? Isn’t that an old people song?” he asked and immediately got whacked by Christine.

”No, you idiot, it’s an amazing song,” She defended and pulled the record out of the sleeve before she spun it in her hands, “You wanna hear it?” she asked her best friend.

Tommy looked across ”What, you planning on marrying me?” he joked to his best friend. Tommy would never admit it, but if Maria wasn’t around, he’d be tempted to go for Christine based on how well their personalities matched.

”Yeah, of course.” Christine deadpanned, putting the record into the player and listening as it started to crackle out through Joel’s house. She listens to it as the rich voice of her Father’s favourite singer filled the house. It was a completely romantic song, one that Christine hoped she’d get to play at her wedding — if and when she found the right partner.

Her eyes met Tommy’s and she watched him stand tall, his knees clicking as he did, “How about a dance, then?” he offered, holding out his palm for his best friend to take. Christine took it, feeling his warm skin in hers and she leapt over the pile of records that had been sat between them both, and allowed Tommy to pull her closer.

”Y’know were not getting married, right?” she joked, one of her hands resting below his shoulder blade whilst the other was wrapped around his and resting on his chest.

Not that Christine would ever tell him, but Tommy was an excellent dancer, in fact he was probably better than anyone she’d ever danced with. What Tommy didn’t know, was that Christine had been married prior to the apocalypse — so she’d lied to him when she said she wanted it to be her first dance song, because, once upon a time, it had been. She can picture him now, his tanned skin softening in the crappy venue lights as they danced around a crowd of their family members.

The song reached its end, and Tommy, who was on autopilot, had dipped Christine as if he were about to kiss her. 

“Hey,” He said in an overly seductive voice, which made Christine laugh, “I guess we should head out to patrol.” he finished, ruining the one moment of normality she’d felt in a long time.

Christine straightened up, her back sore from the weird angle she’d been hunched in for over an hour, and grabbed her backpack, “Don’t leave me waiting, c’mon, Texas,” 

* * *

There was a town just north of where Jackson sat on a map, it was arguably larger, but it was also more damaged. Apartment complexes had fallen to the infected, shops had been raided. It was a complete and utter ghost town, a shell of what it once was. 

Tommy rode ahead of Christine, as he knew the route better, and he avoided bringing up any topics regarding her relationship with his older brother. He didn’t feel he had a place to discuss what happened earlier on in the day, and he sure as hell didn’t want to know what his brother got up to with his best friend.

”This is the first stop,” Tommy called back to her, stopping his horse and elegantly dismounting the animal. He stroked her coat and, when Christine wasn’t looking, whispered about how much of a good horse it was. Christine walked around the front of Tokyo, Joel’s horse, and tied him up to the post that tommy had mentioned earlier on. She pulled her jacket tighter around her chest and watched Tommy sign in.

They stood at the intersection for a moment, trying to figure out where to start, when a deep groan filled the snow-muted silence. It was unlike anything she’d heard before - it sounded like a bloater but... like a clicker too? And she was certain it wasn’t both, because the sound happened at the same time.

”Uh, what is that?” She asked the older man, bringing her shotgun out in front of her defensively. She looked into the direction it had come from and her eyes landed on the gas station, who’s roof had caved in. 

Tommy readied his hunting rifle and put a round into the chamber, “Throw that brick, Florida,” he directed and kept his eyes on the building in front. She threw the brick and watched it shatter over a door way, causing whatever was making the sounds to rush into the clearing.

It staggered into the parking lot, covered in spores and growths that made it look like it had never been human in the first place. Christine lowered the shotgun in shock, “I’m not being funny, but what the fuck is that?” she hissed to her best friend who watched it stumbling around the clearing before it leant back and excreted some sort of gas into the vicinity.

”It looks... almost like a bloater.” Tommy replied, taking a shot at the beast before them. It roared in a deep guttural way, making it sound like it was drowning, and Christine brought up the shotgun. She took aim and steadied her breath, like her mother had told her, before she squeezed the trigger and felt the recoil force the butt of the weapon into her shoulder. 

The beast roared again, pumping out another round of the gas, and Christine decided it would be best to stay away from the yellowing cloud. ”Tommy, don’t go near it, I think it’s acidic,” She warned her best friend as he shot another round at its head, the beast finally collapsing and excreting another, final round of gas. 

“Jesus,” He breathed, lowering the weapon, “Any more?” he taunted and caught his breath.

Christine, on the other hand, walked up close to the fallen infected and looked it over, “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said and pulled the polaroid camera from her bag. 

Last Christmas, Joel had ventured to a few different cities after Christine mentioned being into photography, there was something special about capturing family in photos, frozen in time, and Joel wanted her to feel as if she was able to immortalise the people she adored. So, him and Jesse ventured to eight different towns and two cities to try and find a damned camera and some papers for it.

When he gave Christine the gift, she had cried her eyes out and taken a really silly photo of Joel, her and Ellie, all in their pyjamas. And now, well, now Christine was using the camera to take photos of infected corpses.

”It looks like a bloater, but it didn’t throw anything,” Tommy said, poking it with the end of his rifle, “It looks kinda like Joel when he had a bad reaction to poison ivy,” he laughed and Christine looked across at him.

”Joel’s allergic to poison ivy?” She said and approached the gas station, “Huh, never knew that.” She added, pointing the barrel of her shotgun into the gas station before following it in.

Tommy was clearing the other side of the store when he turned to face his best friend, “So what’s the deal with you and him, anyway?” the second he spoke, a clicker launched itself at Tommy, giving him little time to bring up his rifle between himself and the infected.

Christine dropped her shotgun, it was useless this close range, and she pulled her pistol from her pocket, feeling the cold metal burning her hands. She steadied her breathing and aimed it at the exploded skull of the beast. She squeezed the trigger and watched blood matter explode all over the shelf behind them.

”Did you get any in your mouth?” She shouted to her best friend, her ears still ringing from the gunshot. She walked over to the beast and put her boot through its head, making sure it wouldn’t get back up.

Tommy wiped the blood from his face blindly, his eyes were shut and he was fumbling around for his canteen when the sound of more infected filled the room.

”Tommy!” She warned, grabbing her best friend and pulling him up, “We’ve got company, fucking hurry!” She turned to face the incoming infected, they were smaller, childlike, and she felt a pang in her chest at having to put them down.

She pulls her lighter out and grabs one of Tommy’s ‘special cocktails’ as he calls them, and lights the rag poking out the mouth of the bottle. She aims and throws it, grabbing Tommy and running him back outside near the deceased beast. He fumbled blindly for his canteen, still not having found it. “Here,” Christine shouts, pouring hers all over his face and readying her shotgun for any survivors of the molotov. She listens for any sort of movement inside, but it’s silent, and all she can hear is Tommy.

”So, you and Joel, huh?” He repeats his question from earlier and Christine whacks him in the arm playfully. “What? I just wanna know,” Tommy defends whilst Christine wiped the remaining clicker gunk from his face. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was Christine’s worried face in front of his. 

She pulls him up to his feet again, this time wrapping herself around her best friend, “You fucking scared me,” she complained as her heart thudded through her chest, still elevated from the adrenaline.

Tommy chuckled against his best friend, she could be so over protective at times, “I still wanna know what’s happening with you and Joel,” he teased, unwrapping himself from the hug and looking down at the woman stood in front of him.

She rolled her eyes, “Fine,” she said as she walked her way over to the horses, “I think I might be attracted to your brother.”

”No shit!” Tommy exclaimed, mounting the horse and waited for his best friend to join. “That’s kinda cute, Joel never stops talking about you when we’re on patrol... Christine this, Christine that... oh, Chris would like this,” He commented and watched his best friend laugh. She mounted her horse and they made their way back to the Jackson gate, gossiping about Joel and Maria the whole journey.

When they reached the gate, Christine turned to Tommy, “Can you, please, cut his hair so it’s shorter?” she asked, emphasising the please. It wasn’t that Joel looked unattractive with his longer hairstyle, it just made him look a lot older than what he was, which Christine didn’t like.

”Yeah, I guess I can do that,” Tommy paused, “Hey, what’re you wearing to the dance tonight?” he asked the woman stood in front of him. Christine had avoided the winter dances like the plague, each time one came around she’d volunteer for extra patrols or go and be a lookout throughout some of the coldest nights of the year, but this year, all of the volunteer slots were filled.

Probably because no one wanted to witness another thanksgiving incident. 

She shrugged, “I might just stay home,” she spoke and dismounted her horse. Christine readjusted her jeans and stretched her arm.

”You’re not staying home,” Tommy said and slid off his own horse. “Why don’t you come over and me ‘n’ Maria will help you?” He offered.

Christine looked across at him, “Well, what do you think I should wear? I can bring some clothes across,” she told her friend and made her way down the street towards their houses.

Tommy reached his mailbox, “Doesn’t have to be fancy, just a nice top and jeans,” he paused for a minute, as if trying to recall another requirement of the dress code, “Oh! Remember your cowboy boots,” He finished and tapped the top of his mailbox, causing it to open and for a frog to leap out. “Fuckin’ Kids, man.” he jumped which made Christine laugh.

She dashed into her house and ran up the stairs, making sure she grabbed a variant of different shirts before she dashed back around to Tommy’s house, where she let herself in as usual. She spent almost an hour going through clothing options before both Tommy and Maria settled on a simple white dress and some tan cowboy boots. 

Christine twirled in a circle with Maria being her anchor the whole time, they were laughing and enjoying the moment between two friends when Tommy brought over a bottle of whiskey.

”Here, you’ll be too tightly strung otherwise, Chris,” He offered, passing the bottle to the laughing woman. She took it, not really knowing what she was in for and took a long, tedious swig of the liquid that sloshed around in the glass bottle.

She wiped any from around her mouth and passed the bottle back across to Tommy, “Okay, I think I’m ready,” she confirmed, right as someone knocked at the front door of her best friend’s house.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Alcohol & Christine gets punched

When she heard the knock, she instantly knew it was Joel. In all the time they'd known each other, he always knocked like he was about to bust the door down, almost as if he was gonna yell, "FBI Open up!" or something of that variant. But there was something so intriguing about it, and something that was bordering on intimidating – but in an attractive way. She watched Tommy get up from where he was sat, his knees clicking with his increasing age, and he sauntered over to the door as if he had all the time in the world to let his brother in. He opened the door and, leant in the doorway, stood Joel.

"Howdy," He drawled, one hand lazily draped over the top of his guitar case, whilst the other tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. _Joel has a cowboy hat?_ Christine had never seen him wearing it, hell, she didn't even know Joel owned any hats! She drank in his appearance like she was dying of thirst, clumsily and rapidly, and she noticed how large his hands looked atop the case. Joel wore dark cowboy boots, a blue shirt, his typical winter jacket and some jeans she'd never seen him wearing before. It was like this whole other person stood before her.

He pulled his hat off and ran a hand through his – "Your hair!" Christine gasped, rushing over to the door and grabbing his cold face in her warm hands, "You got it cut!" she exclaimed with a certain sense of joy. He looked younger with it shorter, and a lot more attractive too.

For the first time since his younger brother let him in, Joel's eyes met Christine's. She looked... good. No, she looked breathtaking in the dress she wore. It was a simple white dress, with a low scooping neckline and mesh sleeves that billowed out like a tunic, ending just by her elbow. It was like something a Disney princess would wear, but it was tens of inches shorter, sitting at an inch or two above her knees. Her hair was in a sleek ponytail and was scraped back to reveal her gorgeous face, which Joel never got fed up of seeing.

"Jesus," Joel breathed, looking her up and down as if she was the only person to ever exist, his mind began to wander to how her skin had felt in his hands the night before, "you look..." he cleared his throat in an attempt to clear his dirty thoughts, "you – uh – you clean up well, darlin'," he complemented. She looked, quite possibly, the best he'd ever seen her. She looked healthy, as if the winter he'd been injured never existed, as if he never saw her looking like –

Christine waved her hand in front of his face, "Earth to Joel?" her voice was sweet and warm, and Joel found himself instantly back in the room with her and Tommy, who had now disappeared into the depths of his house, probably to go and find his Wife. "You good, Cowboy?" She asked him and took a step out into the night, where Joel linked his arm with her. She was instantly flooded with warmth, provided by his side as they walked along together, seemingly alone in the town.

They passed The Tipsy Bison, and Christine felt him stop in his tracks, distracted by something he was deep in thought about.

"Joel?" She asked meekly, placing her hand onto his shoulder softly. She watched him staring at the ground and suddenly felt as if she were intruding in something incredibly intimate. Joel was deep in thought, something she'd seen him do often, and felt her cheeks heating up as the cold winter air cooled her core temperature, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.

He wiped his thumb along his bottom lip gently before he turned to face her, "I wish I'd have kissed you when we were laid there," his voice was filled with desire as he stared at the spot they had both laid in the previous day. 

Christine felt the heat blazing across her cheeks, "What's stopping you from doing it now, Cowboy?" she teased and watched the way his face changed to a slightly darker expression. It made her feel extremely vulnerable, but at the same time she felt so alive.

"I didn't think you liked me like that," He drawled, his cheeks flaring up with heat in the cold night. Next to him, Christine smiled gently.

She touched his arm softly, "Joel, why wouldn't I like you like that?" they moved closer to the church, the steps looming over the couple as they sauntered along the cold night. It wasn't hard to enjoy the heat that Joel provided.

He scratched the back of his head, holding open the door to the lobby of the church, "Have I told you how nice you look tonight?" he diverted, burying her question in the eeriness the church offered up. She flung open the door to the party, to the warmth, and rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Shut up," She laughed softly, attempting to hide her embarrassment. Ever since she could remember, she felt like compliments were a direct nag at something she'd done wrong, she didn't take it as praise.

Joel stepped into the warmly lit room, instantly being forced away from Christine by one of his band members. Over his shoulder, right before he was swallowed by the crowd, he apologised to Chris, and then he was gone.

* * *

Music cascaded down through the speakers, mesmerising Christine as she stood between Ellie and Jesse, two of her favourite people in the town. Ellie nursed a solo cup with something brown in it, and Jesse was busy downing some whiskey whilst Christine was staring down at the bottom of her second empty wine glass. Her mom had said that being wine drunk was horrendous, but that was when Christine wasn't old enough to drink, which was years before the apocalypse had started.

"Hey, can I get another?" She drawled, a slight giggle bubbling in her throat as she asked the bartender for more alcohol. In terms of tolerance, Christine had zero. There was absolutely nothing that would stop her being drunk by her third glass, "Actually, can I just have the bottle?" She asked the young man tending the bar, finding that it was someone she once had a fling with – or, more appropriately, hooked up with – and was surprised when he passed across the half empty bottle to her.

She wasted no time in drinking it, and was almost at the end of the pink liquid, when Tommy plucked it from her hands.

"I think that's quite enough, thank you, Liam." He smiled at the barman before he ordered a water for his best friend. The last time she had been this drunk was still fresh on his memory, how he had to carry her back to her house, let her in and change her clothes before putting her to bed. He didn't want a repeat of it, especially after the Thanksgiving incident involving Mindy. They still weren't allowed in the same room as each other.

Christine turned to face him, her eyes struggling to focus onto her best friend as she steadied herself on his arm, "May I have this dance, angel?" her voice was sultry, something that Tommy didn't want her to sound like around him, he knew his weaknesses. She pulled him onto the dance floor, immediately being swallowed by the crowd of dancers. The music was fast paced, intoxicating and merry, Tommy leading her around the room before it was time to change partners.

She lurched forward, landing into the arms of Ellie, making the pair laugh. Neither of them could dance, and it was a well known fact between them both. They stumbled over their feet, bashed into the shoulders of other dancers and made a fool of themselves. They got to the swell of the music, indicating another change in partners, and Ellie swung away from Christine, causing the intoxicated woman to land into the arms of Joel.

Her head was swinging, the alcohol disorientating her as she tried her hardest to stay upright. Joel said something to her but she couldn't hear it – instead the music slowed to a familiar song from before the apocalypse. She couldn't picture the singer, but she recognised the music and was thankful for the slowing of pace.

"What song is this?" She asked Joel, his eyes looking softly back at her.

He licked his bottom lip, deep in thought, "It's Adele, Tommy said you liked her, so we went to the music store to get the album," He whispered, enjoying the feeling of her staring at hi, – although he was aware it was induced by the sheer amount of alcohol she'd consumed.

Across the room, Ellie and Dina danced together, and Christine noticed how they were talking about something intimate. It wasn't even a shock when Dina's lips latched onto Ellie's. Sje felt a smile reaching across her face, she was so happy that Ellie had found someone to love again. Joel noticed she was staring at something and turned to look at his adopted daughter locking lips with Dina. He was happy too, turning back to Chris to share the joy.

But, the happiness was short lived.

"Hey!" Seth called, storming over to the couple, "This is a family event." He warned, scowling at the two women who were now holding hands. Ellie was staring him down, forcing Seth to be intimidated by her.

Her partner dragged her away whilst apologising to the old man, "Sorry.", Dina giggled before seeing the disgust in Seth's wicked face, "Sorry!" she reinforced, continuing to walk away from the man pretty much everyone in the town hated. Christine couldn't help but watch, something about the whole altercation put her on edge, she wanted Ellie to be safe, and she knew what Seth was like.

"Remember next time there's kids around." Seth carried on, still yelling at the two lovers who were walking away from him.

Dina noticed the tone in his voice and instantly swung herself around to face him. "Yeah, like you're setting such a great example." She spat, her grip tightening around Ellie's shaking hand. They turned back towards the door, and tried to get further away from what was happening. They didn't need drama.

"Oh, just what this town needs." Seth scoffed, shifting the weight from one leg to another, "Another loud-mouthed dyke." the venom in his voice caused Ellie to storm forwards, shouting at him as rage filled her body whilst Christine felt joel surge in the direction of the vile man. Chris stormed forwards whilst Dina pulled Ellie back.

Joel stormed over and shoved Seth backwards, "Hey, get the hell outta here." He warned as Chris caught up to him. 

She lurched between Joel and Seth, "Don't you _fucking_ speak to her – or anyone – like that again." She yelled, staring up at Seth and standing her ground, the alcohol in her system making her more confident in the situation. 

His darkened eyes roamed over Christine's body, landing on her cleavage, and he smirked, "Well, if it ain't the town's whore." He spat, now looking directly into her eyes. The entire room was watching them both, forcing their eyes over the intense scene going ahead in front of them.

"Maybe your kids would still be alive if you weren't such a selfish cunt." She hissed. Chris felt the crunch before she saw Seth's hand reaching her nose, he'd just punched her square in the nose, her eyes watering profusely whilst Joel hooked his arm under her armpits and tried to drag her away, but not before she could scrape her nails over Seth's face, scratching through his skin and causing it to blossom with blood.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" Christine looked down at her feet, not wanting to meet the gaze of Joel or Tommy as they stood opposite where she was sat. One of their hands pulled her chin up and tilted her nose closer to the light. Joel's eyes were staring at the blood and the crookedness of the nose, whilst Tommy was staring at Christine.

She turned her head and spat the blood from her mouth onto the snow below the step, "He was being a dick." she remarked.

"Yeah?" Tommy started, "well now you're looking at a broken nose," Tommy groaned, holding the tissue below her nostrils so she wouldn't stain her dress with blood.

"Man, fuck him," She said, "he totally deserved it, who even calls people that anymore?" she asked her best friend, completely ignoring Joel.

Tommy removed the tissue and was relieved to see that she'd stopped spewing out blood, "Bigots, clearly." he remarked, Joel shooting him a look. His hands pinched the bridge of her nose, whilst he fumbled in the first aid kit resting between his knees. His brother still wouldn't look at Christine.

"You shouldn't have said what you did," He remarked and disappeared down the steps and into the night.

Chris just rolled her eyes, "He needs to get over himself," she hiccuped, "You don't see me crying over my dead family all the time," she finished.

Tommy, who was shocked by her words, just looked at her. "Go home, Chris. You're too drunk right now."

She laughed, slumping against Tommy, "I've only had – like – three," she counted on her fingers and shoved them towards her best friend's face, "glasses and a bottle of wine," she giggled, noticing how close she was to Tommy's face, the heat radiating from his tanned skin.

"What're you staring at –" He started, only getting cut off as she pushed her lips onto his. He didn't even realise what happened, it took him a minute to process the feeling of her lips on his before he shoved her off him, but by that point the damage had already been done. "Chris," He started, his voice soft. She didn't mean to, and if she did, well, she knew she couldn't. "We can't." his hands wrapped around her wrists, making her look him in the eye.

"I love you, Joel." She confused the brothers, Tommy, immediately feeling relieved stood to his feet.

"It's Tommy, c'mon kid, let's get you home... you can crash on my couch." He promised, helping her up and pulling her into his arms and holding her like a child. She was so drunk it was almost a reminder of the time she'd been seen kissing one of Jesse's friend's mother's. It felt like she was spiralling, though he knew she'd be alright in the morning, this was a one off.

* * *

"C'mon, into bed you get," Tommy helped her under the covers he'd set up on his couch, "Let's settle you down, it'll all be fine in the morning if you drink this," He offered her a glass of water and helped her drink it. 

She wiped her mouth clear of any water she'd spilled and turned herself away from Tommy, "G'nite, darlin'." She drawled before dozing off into an unpleasant sleep, plagued with nightmares and discouraging dreams of loss and pain and distorted faces.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CW: Near Character Death, Torture, Blood
> 
> Hey guys, this chapter was extremely hard for me to write as it involves character injury so please skip it if you feel uncomfortable reading this content, there will be a summary of what happened at the end of this chapter so please read that if you're uncomfortable!
> 
> Love you all!

Tommy's voice was always gruff in the morning, making it almost impossible for Christine to tell it was him who had woken her up that morning. "Chris, get up." He repeated, his voice drowning in sleepiness whilst Chris struggled to open her dark eyes, "We're heading out, there's been reports of infected North of here 'n' Maria wants us to go look at it," He grumbled as he scratched his beard. He'd barely slept the night before.

Christine sat up, surprised when she found some clothes sat by her feet. They were her own clothes, probably the ones she'd left here after getting ready for the winter dance, and she wasted no time dressing herself whilst Tommy looked away. Tommy had leant her a shirt – some band one he's once worn religiously – and she tucked it into the waistband of her jeans before she secured it with a belt.

"God," She started, pinching the tender skin over the bridge of her nose and instantly wincing, "I feel so fucking rough, Tommy," she groaned, unsure of how she felt. She stood up and looked herself over in the grimy mirror above the mantle, "Jesus Christ!" Chris exclaimed, "That old bastard can pack a punch," she grimaced, a sudden shock of pain dancing up her nose. It was still dark outside. "What time even is it?" She asked her best friend.

Tommy scrunched his face up, "It's barely 5am... and you're already trying to relive last night," he groaned whilst his hands tied his laces automatically as he prepared himself for, what he thought, would be another routine clearing. It wasn't uncommon for a horde to make their way towards the town of Jackson, in face, it happened almost biannually, especially when the weather began to cool down. It was almost as if the infected hated the cold.

Chris' foot knocked over the bag, which sat beneath the coffee table, and found it had been filled with a flask and some sandwiches to eat, something Maria had probably sorted out, no doubt. Maria was always extra thoughtful when Tommy and Chris had early shifts, she'd make them sandwiches, sort out their breakfast and their drinks. Sometimes she even left a note as if she was sending her kids off to school.

 _Oh no... Did I really do what I think I did?_ Chris smacked herself in the forehead and winced when her little finger slammed against her bruised skin. Had she really kissed Tommy last night? or had it really been Joel? Her mouth opened to ask her best friend when an assertive knock sounded from the front door.

She picked her bag up, finding it had been filled with a flask of coffee and some sandwiches to eat, something Maria had done, no doubt. _Oh God... Did I really do what I think I did?_ Chris smacked herself in the forehead and winced when her little finger slammed into her bruised skin. Had she really kissed Tommy last night? or had it really been Joel? Her mouth opened to ask the question, when an assertive knock sounded from the front door.

"C'mon lazyass," Tommy drawled as he swatted his friends bouncing leg, "That'll be Joel tryna' hurry us along." he joked, whilst he swung his backpack over his shoulder. It was too early in the morning for this sort of run, she just wanted more time to wake up and process what happened the night before. _God!_ Her nose hurt like a bitch! Chris took a last look around the sleepy room before she followed Tommy to the door for their day to begin.

* * *

It was empty when they got there, the ski lodge completely void of any evidence that there'd been someone there. Chris walked in first, her shotgun entering the room before her as she looked for any infected. There were none in the room, just smoke trailing upwards from the burnt out fire in the stove and the remnants of what had been someone's dinner. She carried on, past the stove and towards the window, finding a horde just west of their location.

"Is that it?" Joel questioned, his hand planting onto Chris' shoulder, "We should be able to manage that," he finished, setting himself up to sit next to his partner. He pulled out his breakfast and took a large bite as Chris nursed the hot soup in her flask. Like protocol, Tommy signed them all in, writing some note about the horde in the leatherbound book. He looked over the map, replaying how he intended for the day to go whilst his best friend and his brother slowly woke up.

Chris stared at the blizzard making its way down the mountain as it headed to their location, she felt her stomach churn and try to reject the soup. God, she hated hangovers.

 _"Control to Tommy,"_ The radio crackled to life, causing all three of them to jump with uncertainty. The voice on the other end repeated itself, it was someone Christine recognised, but she couldn't tell exactly who it was. She watched Tommy move across the room and pick up the shitty handheld radio before he disappeared off into one of the other rooms in the ski lodge.

They sat in a comfortable silence until Joel cleared his throat, "Chris, about last night..." he started, not exactly sure of how he wanted to go about the topic which had plagued his brain all night and caused him to toss and turn in the dark of the night. He missed her laying in his bed, her soft snoring and the occasional laugh of her in her dreams. 

"What about it?" She said and pulled the sleeves of her sweater further around her cold hands, "Shit, Joel, if I said something–"

Joel shook his head, "It's fine, you were drunk... but what I wanted to say was..." Joel struggled for what he was wanting to say, he never really struggled when he had to tell her his feelings, but now it was as if he'd never spoken to her in his life. "I feel like we should be more than friends." as soon as the words left his mouth, he didn't know if he regretted them or not. Sure, it was something odd and foreign but surely she felt the same.

He looked at her face, relieved to see the smile spreading along her cheeks, "For real?" she asked him, her smile reaching her ears, "so, like dating, huh?" she watched the light blush creeping up across Joel's cheekbones and watched him shift his feet along the tiles.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" He chuckled before adding, "Well, that sounds so weird to say." He said, mumbling on to himself.

Christine smiled at him, "Come here, cowboy," Her voice was raspy as she spoke, whilst her hand wrapped around Joel's head and pulled him closer so that she could kiss him. His lips were chapped and he still had a hint of morning breath, but she didn't care.

Joel smiled against his new girlfriend's lips, "Mm, you're warm." he complimented, savouring the feeling of her against him. There was a moment where it was just them two enjoying the touch of the other, silent and contempt. His hand gently caressed her figure, mapping out the familiarity of her skin, and even reminiscing in the thought of how her skin felt under his hands. He pulled her closer, not wanting to let go of his partner. 

The door swung open with a cold gust of air and Tommy immediately entered, his eyes wide with worry and his face tinted from the cold as he pulled another woman into the room, barricading the door behind them both, "We've gotta go!" the younger brother yelled, causing Chris to almost leap off Joel and grab her bag.

"Tommy, what the fuck have you done?" She asked him, and tightened the strap on her thigh sheath and zipped up her jacket. "Who the fuck is that?" she yelled, noticing the younger woman's childlike features.

"Yeah, well," He started, the younger girl next to him looking as if she'd seen a ghost, "This is..." he didn't even know her name!

The girl snapped to attention, completely out of it, "Abby"

"Abby," Tommy repeated, "she just got chased here by the horde," he paused, loading another round into the chamber, "We've gotta go though, they're breaking their way through here." he grabbed his hunting rifle and slung it over his shoulder whilst Joel zipped up his jacket and slung the bag over his own shoulders.

As much as she had to deal with them, Chris actually despised hordes. When they first got to Jackson, Christine's first partner, Jason, had told her a story about a group of kids who snuck out during a storm... they'd all been found half a mile from the gate, all torn up and dismembered. Jason himself had seen what a horde could do to people, and the thought of his stories rotted in the back of Chris' mind as she stood trying to process the situation.

Their horses stood rearing to go, with Tommy already on his and Joel offering Abby a seat on his, "Chris, get on!" Tommy urged with a sense of anger. 

Chris got on top of the horse, wrapping her arms around Tommy's stomach, "You better be good at riding," she commented, hoping and praying that Tommy would be good at riding with two people on the horse. 

"My friends," Abby said, "they're in a mansion due north from here," she remarked and Joel immediately knew what she was getting at. 

"That'll work, c'mon, lets go!" Joel yelled and reared the horse, making her dart off into the storm for Tommy and Christine to follow.

* * *

They rode directly through the horde now, darting between groping hands and hanging jaws which threatened to bite the horses. Her hands wrapped around Tommy like an anchor, as if her entire life depended on it. She couldn't tell if she was screaming, or if it was a combination of the wind and the groaning from the infected, but it was deafening. She pulled her handgun out and began to aid in clearing the path whilst Abby fed directions to Joel.

Out of nowhere, the mansion appeared, looming over the four of them like the mansion from the Resident Evil games. Inside, one of the men opened the gate in a hurry, not even stopping as the four got off the horses and made their way closer to the open garage door.

Chris found herself lagging behind them as she watched the Mexican man throw a molotov cocktail over the gate, igniting the group of infected. It wasn't ideal, but it sure did the job more efficiently than any of them could. She realised Joel had already made his way inside and instantly jogged to catch up with him, brushing her knuckles over his as they followed the girl they'd just saved.

"Joel, something about this..." Chris lowered her voice so as not to insult any of the group who'd just let them into their home, "it doesn't feel right," she continued, finally giving in to the nagging feeling of dread, which churned in her stomach and threatened to spill from her mouth. Joel didn't reply, he was too busy trying to listen to what his brother was saying, or, rather, asking the group.

She continued to follow the group into the house, finding herself in a bar room with two doors and a sliding glass door, which was blocked by snow. The room was cold, unforgiving and desperate, no torches lit up the dark corners, and she noticed they'd shut both of the doors, with men stood between her and the exit. She couldn't pay attention to what Tommy said, her stomach panging and jabbing her with another probe of pain.

He continued to make light conversation with the group, whilst Joel let his guard down and made his way into the centre of the room. His brother, still asking questions, leant against the bar whilst he enjoyed the feeling of safety the group provided. The man who'd thrown the Molotov, Manny, told Tommy about how long they'd resided in the manor. Joel remained in the centre of the room, his posture relaxed, Christine found herself lingering between the door she'd entered from and Tommy, just in case.

She could tell Joel felt uneasy too, but she couldn't decide if it was due to the horde outside or the false sense of security biting away at their ankles. He was a lot better at masking his emotions, too, which was something Christine found herself jealous of.

"We're just passing through..." One of the men entertained, the pistol in his waistband mocking Christine as she swallowed the bile, "you three live nearby?" he asked.

Tommy nodded, "Just a couple of miles down the hill," he provided the information instantly, almost as if it was free candy on halloween left in a bowl. He even offered that the group returned with them to Jackson and restocked their supplies. 

Meanwhile, Chris felt more sick, her head still swimming and ringing from the hangover. One of the women introduced herself to Tommy, even offering her hand for him to shake. Tommy introduced himself before turning to Christine, who had gone a shade of green, and introduced her as, "My best friend, Chris," and he continued introducing the three of them, turning to his brother.

It was like time stopped, her pulse quickened, her stomach cramped and the room began to spin.

Something wasn't right, she'd probably just eaten something bad.

"And that there's my brother," Tommy smiled at his older brother whilst Christine tried to dart for the door behind her.

Joel gave a small wave, "Joel," he introduced. The room fell silent. "Y'all act like you've heard of us," He joked.

Christine's hand wrapped around the handle and she tried to open it whilst the bile fought her throat, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she was sick all over the room. She tugged the handle, meeting resistance as one of the men pulled her back. She mentioned how she didn't feel well, but the man still wouldn't let her out. "Please, I think it's something I ate last night." She said.

From behind her, Abby raised her weapon, "That's because they have," she spat with violence glinting in her eyes. Christine's head was racing and she tried to force herself past the man and through the door where she'd, no doubt, be –

Her ears started to ring, she didn't realise what had happened at all, but she knew that she'd ducked down and away from the loud band which had introduced itself into the room. It was enough to give her stomach the rest of the push it needed, and she vomited all over the floor, just missing the boots of the man who'd not let her out.

She looked up through her watering eyes and couldn't believe what was going off before her.

Tommy tried to lunge forwards, but two of the men shoved him backwards into the bar and restrained him, whilst one of the women hit him around the head with her pistol until he fell unconscious. And then there was Joel on the floor, clutching his thigh which bled profusely, it was still intact luckily – the round was probably a birdshot, not doing much damage to him at this range. He groaned for Tommy, and then for Christine, who tried to keep herself upright whilst she fought the dizziness from being sick.

Cold metal pressed against her thigh, reminding her of her hunting knife. She discreetly pulled it out and made a decision, surely she could do something.

Christine found herself moving forwards, stumbling across the room and barely avoiding slipping in the blood which poured from her lover's leg, "Don't you dare!" she yelled, holding up the blade whilst she put herself between Joel and Abby in a desperate attempt to prevent any more damage. 

Abby lowered the shotgun, handing it over to one of her group, and smiled at Christine, "You really think you can stop this?" she laughed, moving to where a bag was slumped in the corner, "Stupid fucking woman," she spat, pulling out a golf club and bringing it over her shoulder.

Joel groaned in pain whilst Christine remained between him and Abby, "I'm not scared of you, just do it!" she screamed, throwing her knife down onto the floor whilst Abby took a step backwards. She noticed the patch on Abby's jacket. WLF.

The golf club swung through the air and collided with Christine's shoulders, sending her stumbling and slipping over Joel's blood until she finally fell, hitting her head on the grimy tiles and knocking herself out as a result.

* * *

_Sun spilled through the trees above her, whilst her hands combed through the tepid water of the river. It was a typical summer day, one where she'd found herself relaxing in the cool water the river provided, whilst Joel sat reading one of the magazines he'd found on their supply run, it was that or he was reading his book again._

_"C'mon now, Ellie, remember what I taught you last time," Joel called from his position on the log whilst his daughter and Christine messed around in the invitingly cool pool of water. It had been weeks since Ellie last practiced swimming and Joel promised her that he'd make it fun, but instead she watched him as he flicked his hands through one of the magazines Tommy had leant him. It had a truck on the front._

_Chris leant back, allowing herself to float on her back whilst she exploited the sun rays drowning her skin. It was nice. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt at peace before Jackson, it was new and fresh, but it was so inviting to the three of them – a new life for the three of them, one where they'd finally be able to–_

* * *

Cold air licked the feverish skin of Chris, who was finally coming to, watched as two men pinned someone down, her smaller body writing in anger as she desperately fought to stay powerful. "Get off me!" the girl yelled. It was Ellie. "Get the fuck off me!" she screamed again, looking over towards Tommy, and then meeting the eyes of Chris. One of the men stormed over to Ellie and kicked her hard in the ribs... again... again... and again... he carried on until someone shoved him away.

Chris realised she'd been moved, and was now propped up against the bar, her hands being tied to the railing at the bottom. Tommy still hadn't moved. He was lifeless next to her, the caked blood on his forehead indicating it had been some time since he'd initially suffered.

"Stupid old man!" Abby screamed as she brought the golf club down onto his ribs. Joel's face screwed up in agony and he swore, loud. 

Ellie screamed again, "You're gonna fucking die!" she spat, still having to be restrained whilst Christine tried to steady herself and untie herself.

One of Abby's friends, Mel, wiped the vomit from Chris' face in an attempt to be kind, only to find Chris yelling, "Stay the fuck back! Don't you dare touch me you cunt!" she growled, and spat her bloodied saliva directly onto the woman's face. Sure, she was trying to be nice, and maybe Mel's intentions were pure, but Chris wasn't thinking. 

Abby grabbed Christine's knife from the floor, and picked Joel's hand up.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Ellie screamed, her throat raw whilst Abby turned the knife over in her hand so that the serrated edge would be the one doing the cutting. She grabbed his little finger and pressed the blade against it.

Christine shut her eyes. His screams filled the room, echoing off the barren walls and dancing down Christine's spine. When she opened her eyes, she noticed the blood seeping from beneath his fingers whilst he clutched the wound. Two of his digits laid on the floor, mixed in the pool of bodily fluids, and one of the men stormed over to Christine, where he pulled her up to her feet and dragged her across the room and closer to her partner.

"Look at him." The younger woman demanded, grabbing Chris' collar in her oddly calm hands, "You're gonna watch as I kill your pathetic boyfriend." She smiled sadistically at Christine and grabbed a fistful of Joel's hair, forcing his face into the light where Chris was able to assess the worst of the damage. Blood dripped from Joel's mouth, and into his lap... this was the worst he'd ever looked. His skin was purpled, and Chris didn't understand why, but she hoped it was a product of the cold in the room. 

Abby brought her fists down on Joel's chest... and again... and again... and until she felt the bone cracking beneath her knuckles. She wanted him dead, he deserved it.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you all!" Ellie screamed again, writhing against the constraints and crying when she found it completely useless. There was a slight shuffling of feet before silence encased the room. Chris didn't even want to know what they'd done to Ellie. She couldn't even look at Joel... she couldn't tell if he was alive anymore and it terrified her.

The man who had dragged Chris over to her partner, yelled out to stop Abby, "You've done enough... Isaac wanted him _alive_!" he reprimanded and made his way over to Chris. His eyes were misted with genuine sorrow, and he mouthed an apology. She was confused as to why, but he brought his pistol up and slammed it into her skull, sending her body hurtling down next to Ellie, who was already unconscious.

* * *

When her eyes opened, she was terrified.

She couldn't see straight, but the one thing she could see was the absence of whatever WLF was. They were finally gone... and so was Joel. Whatever they'd done, wherever they'd gone, it had something to do with Joel's past, and Joel had a lot of shit in his past that he never spoke about. Christine struggled to sit up, her head screamed at her to stop moving, let her rest and regain her strength, but she wouldn't be able to settle until she found him. She was almost sure he'd be killed by the Isaac guy one of them mentioned.

"Tommy?" Chris asked, her hand groping along the dried blood on the tiles as she sought out her best friend. She began to drag herself along to where he was and rested her back against the grimy bar. Careful to not injure him, she nursed his head in her lap and stroked his hair whilst she desperately fought with her own brain to stay awake. Surely someone would be looking for the four of them? and even if it was Ellie, they'd not have sent her alone... right?

"C'mon, Texas," She barely managed a whisper, her own voice failed her, "I can't lose you. Please, Tommy," she choked whilst her thumb ran over the soft contour his cheekbones provided, and held him closer to her. He would get through this, hell, she'd seen him go through much worse. 

Footsteps startled her, she brought her gun out and the door swung open, two figures stumbling in and scanning the room for any threats.

"Jesus Christ..." Jesse remarked whilst Dina collapsed next to her partner and tried to wake her. Jesse looked over towards Chris and his face immediately fell. He couldn't even say anything, he just made his way over to Chris. His hands wrapped around her upper arms and he nursed her, ensuring she'd be alright.

"I couldn't – they took – I couldn't stop them," she stumbled over her words, "Joel, they've taken Joel." She cried again, slumping completely against the bar whilst Jesse rested his hand onto her shoulders. "I was right there and I didn't do anything, Jesse," She hyperventilated whilst Jesse looked over her eyes, they were frantic and darted all around the room.

"I slipped on his blood, they knocked me out and hurt him so much" She cried again. Her head was heavy in pain and she crawled forwards, slipping in his blood as she groaned about WLF and Isaac and Abby.

Jesse stopped her, "Who's Isaac and Abby? Chris you're not making any sense." Jesse's eyes moved down to where Tommy sprawled unconscious. He still hadn't moved since the initial knocking out.

"Uh, Jesse," Dina called, her voice tinged with fear as her eyes remained glued on the two digits that proved Joel had been there, "Jesse – you might wanna see this,"

Chris heard Jesse say something, but her brain was replaying the trauma, thinking of Joel laid on the floor bleeding out whilst that girl yelled about whoever Isaac was. WLF. WLF. WLF. What did it even mean? It sounded familiar, she'd seen the wolf logo before but where had she seen it? Joel would know what to do. He always knew.

WLF.

Liam had told her he used to be in a group after the fireflies collapsed... what did he call it? The WLF... She tried to picture Liam's face when he said it, he looked disgusted but also relieved. It was something he'd enjoyed being a part in but she could tell he regretted it... WLF.

Beneath her, Tommy stirred, the words dripping from his lips answered her question, "They're... the Washington... They're from – Washington Liberation," he coughed, spitting out blood all over Christine's legs.

She didn't need Tommy to finish it, because she already knew who they were. "The Washington Liberation Front."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After waking up, Ellie, Chris and Tommy find themselves left with more questions than before. Who were these people? and why did they do what they did to Joel?
> 
> Meanwhile, time is running thin for our ruggedly handsome protagonist, with his injuries getting the better of him, and the looming threat of meeting this 'Isaac' character – he had no clue what awaited him at the WLF headquarters. But he was thankful.
> 
> He would just have to survive long enough to see his family again.


	8. Chris & Tommy

She walked down the street with her hood drawn tight around her tear-stained cheeks. She didn't want people to think of her as weak, she didn't want people to think she was vulnerable. Her eyes were focused down on the pavement, watching her feet as they left indentations in the crisp white blanket that covered Jackson. She checked her watch, looking at the reflection of her broken nose in the small face. It had been twelve hours and twenty three minutes since Joel was taken, and the sun had already set, leaving the town of Jackson in a dream-like state of intimacy. The string lights were on low power, probably because it was past curfew, and Chris struggled to not think of him whilst she walked past The Tipsy Bison. She carried on, her hands now shoved deep into the pockets of her jacket whilst she quickened her pace.

She turned the street corner, passing through the vegetable gardens and opening the gate onto the painfully familiar street. The snow let up and she looked up to see a crowd of residents stood by the letterbox of Joel's house, candles in their hands and sorrow in their hearts. Everyone knew Joel in this town, he was a father figure to so many people, and he helped many more where they needed it. She saw Tommy lingering by the back of the crowd, his hands fumbling with a flask of what – probably – wasn't hot cocoa. 

His eyes were red and swollen from crying, his lips raw from biting the skin off them, he even still had some blood in his eyebrow which he hadn't washed out. He was letting himself go whilst he fought every single fiber of his being to go straight after his brother.

Chris watched more of the crowd, noticing familiar faces and some she'd never met before, there was a face that looked too familiar. She forced herself over, removing her hands from her pockets and bringing them up to grab the person she saw. 

"How did you get in here? You think you can just fucking hurt Joel and then sneak in here?" Christine yelled, shoving the person backwards and watched them stumble into more members of the crowd. She was about to swing her fist at the person, but someone wrapped themselves around Christine, pinning her arms by her sides and forcing her immobile.

His voice rasped from beside her, raw from the sadness and heavy from the alcohol he'd just drunk, "Chris, it's alright, c'mon leave her alone.", he tried to pull her away, his dark eyes apologising to the teenage girl who Christine had just pushed, "It's not her, Chris, it's not her, it's not her!" he reassured, his arms still tight around his best friend. He apologised to the girl Chris had shoved, and wrestled her up the stairs to his brother's empty house.

She wriggled out from Tommy's grasp and pushed herself away from him. Without saying a word, she entered Joel's house and collapsed herself onto his staircase.

"I don't know if," She paused, "I don't know if I can do this," she felt her chest pang and tighten as the same image flashed in her mind. Tommy made his way across the dark hallway, he crouched in front of her, his hands gently resting on her knees. His thumbs traced intricate patterns onto her exposed skin.

He sighed, "Chris, look at me," when she moved her head from her hands, he encased them and lowered them so they sat slack between Christine's knees, "We will find Joel, I promise you that," She looked across at him. In all honesty, they both knew Maria wouldn't let them out, especially in the middle of Winter, but they also had the advantage that they were both wanting to leave everything behind and find Joel.

"We can't go, Texas, Maria won't let us go, we both know that," She paused, shutting her eyes and thinking about the memory of Joel cooking pasta for the first time in the kitchen. The grandfather clock chimed nine times. It was almost time for a shift change for the guards on the walls.

"I know, but we can sneak out, I've already packed two bags for us, the letter is waiting for Maria," He stopped, of course he felt guilty, he was lying to his wife, "We can be gone, just say the word," he added. 

Chris wiped her nose on her sleeve, "Do you even know where they took him? Other than Washington?"

"No, but we go to Washington and we decide from there," Tommy stood to his full height, his knees cracking whilst the weight shifted. 

She didn't need to think of whether it was a good idea or not; they were wasting time whilst they remained immobile. They had to go after Joel, who knew what conditions he'd be in, who knew what Isaac would do to him? Hell, neither of them even knew who this Isaac fella was, but Tommy would probably know how he worked considering the close links between WLF and the fireflies... if there was any link at all.

She wiped her eyes, "What about Ellie? Shouldn't we take her?" she asked, but Tommy shook his head.

"We can't put more people in danger," Tommy's eyes were wild, but who could blame him? "Just us two, everything we need is in a car a few miles away from the east gate," he told her, and watched her face for any fleeting change in emotions. But there she sat, eyes steely cold, face sullen, broken nose and bruised cheekbones.

"Well, lets go," Chris stood to her feet and moved towards the side window before turning to face Tommy, "We can't go out of the front, and Ellie would see us going from the back," she shrugged and opened the window. She swung her leg over the sill and leapt out, into the night. She took a moment to steady herself, she didn't want people around the front of the house to hear... she didn't want Ellie to hear. 

Her eyes darted over to the gate, which was still wide open, and then back to Tommy, who struggled to get himself out the window. Under her breath, she muttered something about having to be discreet, before she jogged to the open gate and into the vegetable patches of Jackson. Tommy followed close behind his best friend, and made sure he had his cap down across his face, not wanting to be recognised.

"C'mon, not much further now, just gotta take a left here–" Chris almost stepped out into the street, but Tommy pulled her into his chest and angled her head so that she saw what he was getting at. Across the street was Maria, talking to Seth in a hushed tone about something, probably about the night before. Maria's face looked exhausted and saddened, she looked as if she was about to break into a million pieces whilst Seth, nursing the two lacerations across his face, stood with a hand on her shoulder. Was he comforting her?

Christine felt Tommy stiffen, and he let her go, "Hold my arm and walk like you're my girlfriend," 

"Excuse me?" Chris laughed. She took note of the expression on Tommy's face and immediately changed her approach. "Fine," she caved and wrapped her cold hands around his arm, pulling herself close into his side and stealing his warmth. They started off across the street, not talking but still moving further across to where Tommy lead her. They just had a few more steps, hopefully Maria wouldn't recognise either of them. 

When her foot hit the other side of the pavement, she was delighted. They were almost closer to making their way out and after Joel. She thought about how far Washington would be, it would at least be a few weeks for them to get there, maybe even a month depending on what they ran into. Chris found herself swearing at God. Out of everyone, why Joel? What had he even done wrong that would warrant torture? He didn't have any information, and its not like money was of any use in an apocalyptic world, anyway. So what could Joel, the kindhearted man she'd met four years ago in the viaduct, have in his closet?

She cleared her throat, "Tommy," Chris paused, not entirely sure of how would be the most appropriate to even approach a situation like this. "why did they take Joel?" she looked across at him and found a blank expression on his face for a moment before he pushed himself away from her, and grabbed the stable fence, hopping over it as if it were nothing.

"Well..." he didn't know what to say, really, "Joel pissed a lot of people off," he finished and darted over to the East Gate wall. It was the place where all the children snuck out, of course it wouldn't have been patched, no one wanted their one shot of freedom taken... not that they weren't free in Jackson.

Chris rolled her eyes, "Well I know that," she pulled herself along the wall, making sure to not let go of Tommy's shirt, "has anyone told you that you're shit at explaining things?" she lightheartedly joked, and pulled herself along towards where Tommy dipped behind the wall, into the outside world. 

She found herself waiting for a moment, paused whilst she weighed the options. The last time she'd exited the walls, she ended up without her boyfriend. But now she'd be going half way across the country to chase after an organisation of which she had no idea about, and no inclination as to where they'd even be holed up. But on the other hand of the argument, it was Joel. And the last time Christine had been in love, she couldn't do anything to help him, but now she could. She would be able to help HJoel, and Joel wasn't going to get any better without her and Tommy. 

Speaking of Tommy, Tommy wouldn't even know how to cook his own meals, let alone know how to open a can without an opener. Plain and simple, she needed to go, even if it was extremely out of his comfort zone. She grabbed the wooden pallet, and slipped outside the comfort of Jackson.

* * *

"The road lets out here," Tommy chimed, his limbs numb from the travel and the cold, he looked over his shoulder towards where Jackson sat between the valley. He felt bad for wanting to leave everything he'd built from the ground up, but he also knew he'd not be able to live with himself if anything happened to his only remaining family. 

They'd been walking and driving for around twenty three days, and they'd finally lost track of the road, the foliage overtaking the road and water drowning the concrete where the roads had failed. Burnt out cars, and buses littered the sides of the roads, and Christine felt intimidated by the looming walls above them. The graffiti on them was insidious, calling out the Washington QZ zone for what it was, and threatening coups where the military failed them.

A skeleton hung from a gallows type infrastructure, with a plank labelling them as a "Traitor" Chris wandered across the front of the gate, looking for a way in, when Tommy, who was resting on a concrete railing, whistled impressed. Of course Tommy would find something to be impressed about in such an empty, callous place. It looked as if people had been dragged across the floor of the QZ entrance and thrown into the makeshift cages. It looked as if -

Inside the walls, someone, or something, let off a high pitched squealing whistle, which froze Chris to her spot, and caused Tommy to duck his head.

"Chris..." Tommy paused as the ricochet of gunfire sprung past them, "Come here, we're sneaking in through the river." he whispered, and extended his hand for Christine to take. He knew exactly how to get across to where he needed to be... but he was also aware of the sudden threats that the failed QZ provided. Sure, it had been left in ruin for quite some time now, but he wasn't aware of how long.

Christine ducked down and held her backpack straps whilst she sprinted lightly across the clearing, ending up next to Tommy on the ground. She could hear the swell of the raging river, the myriad of whistles and shrieks, her heart beating rapidly in her ears, and she could tell Tommy was telling her to do something, but he was the one person she couldn't hear. His face was before hers, the soft wrinkles, the dark bags under his eyes hinting that he'd struggled to sleep these past few days... and then she saw Joel's face staring back at her.

Her Joel, his bright eyes and his charming smile, the crows feet by his eyes when he laughed... the toothpick lazily hanging from the corner of his mouth. And it was him, right there, within arms reach. She could hear what he was saying, 'You need to jump!' he repeated, but it wasn't exactly his voice, and deep down, Christine knew it wasn't exactly Joel... She knew her mind was playing these awful tricks on her.

"You want me to jump?" She yelled back across the deafening chorus of sound, and watched her best friend as he tightened the straps of his rucksack around him, he slung the rifle over his body and ensured his pistol was squared away securely. "Tommy... I can't!" Chris yelled back, peering over the edge to find a large drop, which appeared to get larger as the landscape pulled away from her.

By the gate, which had been opened, loomed a group of soldier's all aiming their rifles down towards where the pair sat.

Tommy grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his chest. He then shoved them both off the ledge, and into the earth below.


	9. Joel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up in a jail cell, Joel Miller is introduced to his assailants, and Isaac.

_"Happy Birthday, baby girl,"_

His eyes snapped open, his body lurching forwards in a fight or flight response as the memories plaguing his mind terrified him. The remnants of his dream, his safe cocoon inside his head, protected him from the cruel reality of what had happened a month prior... had it really been a month? He couldn't remember how he got to the dark cell he'd been abandoned in, but he was surprised to find out he was alive.

His eyes struggled to adjust to anything at first, the head trauma he'd sustained causing his vision to blur slightly, fuzzing the edges of the blood splatter the sat inches away from his face. It was congealed by now, it certainly wasn't his either. He noticed them then, the shrivelled up prisoner with sunken black eyes and a smile carved across their cheeks in a scar. Their hair had been cut out in an arbitrary manner, the odd chunks striking a variety of contrast to their pallid skin. They had been stripped naked, stripping them of any dignity, and Joel couldn't differentiate whether they were male of female.

Part of it reminded Joel of the way the Boston QZ had treated so-called traitors, the 'enemies' to the mask of peace the Quarantine forced citizens to uphold. That had been decades ago now, back when the cases were 'under control' and long before he'd ended up living in the shithole Boston descended into. He could still hear Tess' voice if he focused hard enough, the feeling of her frame curled against him on the one mattress they'd salvaged before rationing had taken over. He shivered at the lack of warmth he felt now, the pain in his side running rampant in the remnants of his sleep.

Wincing, he lifted his hand up to his eye to rub the sleep out of it, and bile churned in his stomach at the realisation his hand was lighter than it had been. Had he lost weight? 

He pulled his palm into the view of his eyes, and was stunned to see two fingers missing, with puffy red scars masking the jagged lines from where they'd been sawn off with a hunting knife. Memories flooded back of pain and anguish, torture and fear, and more importantly... his brother. The mirror of himself that he'd seen moments before his near-death, his younger brother writhing in pain and then, with a turn of his head, he could see the ghost of her sat in the corner of his cell.

"Christine..." He groaned, his throat searing with pain as the dehydration made it near impossible to talk. _She looks so peaceful,_ Joel thought, admiring his lover's smile on her face. She was wearing a white dress from the winter dance, her dark hair loose and framing her square jaw. Her sloped button nose was littered with freckles, and her coffee brown eyes smiled back at him. He wanted to reach out, to hold her in his arms and feel like he was at home again. 

But when he went to stand, Joel found himself falling flat, landing in human excrement and slamming his chin on the cold, unforgiving concrete. He gritted his teeth in response to the pain, he was almost certain he'd removed a chunk from his chin, and groaned. It wasn't that his legs failed him, no, his legs worked extremely fine. But it was the fact that he was missing his right leg, just an inch above his knee. He squeezed his eyes shut and remembered it. The smell of charred flesh, the way he struggled to stay conscious as someone dragged him away from Ellie's limp body and into a truck, the sawing of metal against his bone -

What remained in his stomach spread across the dirty flooring, stinging the wound on his chin as the bile crept into the broken skin as he vomited his pain all over himself. And he shivered, now painfully aware of how cold his body was. He'd do anything to be back in Jackson, back with Ellie, Tommy, Maria... and Christine. God, he missed her. Her laughter, her stupid jokes and useless facts that never failed to amaze him. Just the memory of her was enough to give him strength to push himself up into a seated position, now noticing a man leaning against the rusted iron bars of the cell.

"I trust you slept well?" The man watching him spoke, his voice gravelly and morose as he observed Joel's slumped frame. He stood almost a foot shorter than Joel and wore a grey jumper with moth-bitten holes peppering the torso. His skin was similar to mocha or clay, though it appeared darker due to the lack of light in the cell area, "I've been waiting for you to wake up..." The man began, taking a step closer to Joel and his face illuminating under the bulb which moths danced around, drunk in the light.

"See, I've heard a lot about you... You've proven to be quite a fighter in the past, especially with what you did in the Salt Lake Hospital four years ago, I'm not bitter about that though, the Fireflies were just the first step," The man with greying hair continued, stepping over the other prisoner and making his way closer to Joel, a feeling of unease twisting around his heart and telling him to fight, "As the leader of The Washington Liberation Front, I watched their demise with glee... they were too... _sympathetic,_ and sympathy in a world like this? Shit, it'll damn near kill you." He moved closer to Joel, now practically stood near Joel's side.

Joel could see him in more detail now.

The man was aged, either by the end of the world or by nature, he was older than Joel... possibly in his late fifties, and he had a pistol wedged in his boot - only noticeable by the bulge in his earth-brown cargo pants - which meant Joel could easily grab it and use it against him. But even then, he knew there'd be guards outside, and he'd be dead within seconds... maybe a minute if he was lucky.

From the position Joel was slumped in, he managed to spit directly at his kidnapper's feet, watching as the tendrils of spit danced in the dank air before splattering all over his suede boots. _Who the fuck wears suede boots in an apocalypse?_ He redirected his gaze to The Kidnapper's face, a burning hatred igniting in his stomach as Joel drank in every line, every ghost of an expression and every breath the man took.

The man chuckled venomously, "You've still got some fight in you, that'll be of great use around here." he remarked, and crouched down to Joel's line of sight before taking Joel's bloodied jaw into his dry, calloused hand. "The name's Isaac, by the way." Isaac said and released Joel's jaw, offering his hand for the man to shake.

He was completely beaten down, this was the most vulnerable Joel felt and he resented it more than anything he'd ever resented in his lifetime, shit, he was relying on his survival instincts again. The adrenaline rampaged his bloodstream, dilating his pupils and sending strength to his limbs for a fight, but this was the one time he couldn't, and Isaac was testing him right now, wanting the younger man to embarrass himself in a failed attempt of defence. But Joel knew better than to fight, if he wanted to survive he knew he'd have to play along to the injured, useless, old man he appeared as. 

Joel had been in situations like this before, most famously the incident after The University, where he'd been impaled in the middle of winter... but back then he could still walk, and he had Ellie, his teenage companion and adopted daughter to rely on. Here he was so painfully alone, without anyone knowing his exact location or tending for his injuries with such compassion as a terrified fourteen-year-old. That being said, the last time he'd been this significantly injured, he was able to get up and walk around if he wanted to.

But Joel was knocked for six, sat in his own waste with death flirting with him... and he so badly longed for its embrace right now.

"I'm Joel," He croaked, the sandpaper wrapped around his throat tightening at every word and breath he dared to take. It felt like everything was a privilege now, "but you already knew that," The Hunter replied. He was so tired - even though he'd only just woken up from a month long comatose - and it was as if he'd been thrown into a whole other dimension where time did not exist.

He took Isaac's hand and shook it firmly.

The older man laughed, "You're smart..." He stood to his feet, his knees clicking at the shifting of his weight, "C'mon, lets get you up," he spoke gently, this time, something that appeared off-kilter for such a man of an intimidating nature. "I can't have my guest of honour sat in his own shit, that'd be very uncharitable of me." Isaac remarked and hooked his arm under Joel's armpit, ignoring the injured man's flinching. 

He hoisted Joel up with ease, and took all of his weight into his shoulder's. Isaac offered taking Joel to their medic, though it was more of a one-sided offer considering Joel knew that he needed medical attention. "I think you'll like her; Mel, that is." As soon as Isaac said her name, Joel froze, his memories flooding back painfully.

* * *

_"Hey, I'm Mel..." The woman with the discreetly swollen belly and big, child-like eyes offered across to him. She looked harmless, so deer-like in her stance and her nature that Joel was able to ignore Chris' comment from earlier. How could something sinister be going on by the people that saved the three of them? It didn't make any sense, sure he knew Christine was sometimes adamant in her gut feeling, but this time Joel was able to ignore his partner's pleas to leave._

_They would be dead going back out into a blizzard and a horde._

_So, he let his guard down and made his way into the centre of the basement, his brother still asking polite questions about the group they had found... where they were from, what they were doing out here, if they needed shelter._

_Joel remained in the centre of the room, noticing the lack of any light coming in through the windows, casting ghastly shadows across the ornate furnishings from another time, and for the first time since he stepped foot inside the mansion, Joel felt uneasy. The combination of the horde outside and the false sense of security tugging away at his feet and screaming at him to get out whist he could. Luckily for Joel, he could mask his emotions, and Chris knew that too._

_"You three live nearby?" One of the men closest to Tommy asked._

_Tommy nodded, and shifted his weight from one leg to his other. Joel noticed the casualty of it all, his brother's mannerisms proving he was relaxed. The gun to gun ratio still intimidating Joel. Meanwhile, his brother offered the group come down to Jackson, their safe haven... their home, and resupply with food, ammunitions and anything else they might need for whatever journey they said they were completing._

_And then the fatal mistake._

_"I'm Tommy, that's my best friend Chris," Joel watched his brother's gaze and followed it to Christine, who was leant against the bar for support, her face pale and her breathing shallowed whilst she fought to swallow whatever emotions threatened her, "And that there's my brother," Tommy gestured at his sibling whilst Chris darted for the door she had entered from._

_He gave a small wave, polite enough to come across as neighbourly, but just cold enough to hint at the fact he didn't feel comfortable at all, "Joel," he threw his name at them, discarding it at their feet as they fell silent, mouthes agape whilst Christine was hurriedly trying to open the mysteriously locked door._

_"Y'all act like you've heard of us." Joel joked._

_Abby, the girl who painfully reminded him of Ellie brought up her shotgun and aimed down, "That's because they have." and the next thing Joel felt was an excruciating pain biting away at his leg._

* * *

The man holding Joel's body weight stopped his movements as soon as he noticed Joel tensing up. Was the sudden movement too much for him? Surely Isaac was mistaken, he was taking it extremely slow himself, not wanting to expend all of his strength on a man who didn't even deserve the roof over his head.

All Joel could think about was the name Mel, how familiar it sounded and he'd heard _Chris_ saying it right before... right before... 

He blinked again, harder this time, and he could see her dark brown hair seeping along the cold tiles, her blood matting it from the laceration across her forehead. Her eyes were still open, and pleading at the woman stood over Tommy. _'Please, you've already done enough!'_ Christine begged the medic, who had her hands clenched around the golf club Abby had discarded moments prior. She brought it up to her shoulders, and swung at Christine's stomach instead.

Joel grimaced, and opened his eyes again, the light searing his iris', "Where's Chris?" he asked, a grunt in pain following his question as his joints cracked at the sudden movement of Isaac dragging him upwards.

"Your girlfriend was fine when they left, just a black eye and a broken nose, from what Manny said." Isaac promised. Joel couldn't tell if he was being sincere, a flash of a smile ghosted Isaac's face, tearing away any humanity Joel had perceived him to have. It was a sinister one, one that held lies close to its core.

The room around Joel swayed, the dark blue hues merging into one constant mess of colour. He noticed the grip Isaac had on him tighten up, the older man taking his entire weight as Joel struggled to make it over to the rusted iron bars of the cell. 

In the corridor, other than a handful of guards, Joel heard the crackling of a radio faintly playing music it was a song his daughter had once loved, he could picture her now; her blonde wispy hair framing her mother's jawline she'd inherited, the torn band t-shirt she'd taken from Joel to sleep in, the exhaustion tainting her youthful face. Every memory he had of her was enough to paralyse him, it was home to him, his little idyllic daydream where he'd return home from work late at night, Sarah half asleep on the battered up couch clutching one of the cushions whilst she waited to say goodnight to her father... what he wouldn't do to get that peacefulness back.

Isaac lead him towards the music, the sweetness of the song nauseating him, or maybe it was the lack of food he'd consumed. Regardless, he struggled onwards, hopping over towards the wheelchair left in the foyer. One of the wheels was crooked from probably being discarded for years, and rust married the spokes of it. Isaac sat him down, and waved a guard over to push the chair.

He lead Joel outside, the brightness of the sun blinding him as he felt the warmth on his skin for the first time in over two months, he smiled as he thought of Ellie now being able to swim, and his eyes opened to a chorus of hushed whispers and an increasing crowd around him.

”Look, there he is...” One woman said.

”Abby shouldn't have let him live,” Another man commented, watching as the crippled man was pushed over towards the cars in the compound.

Joel felt weak, more so than he'd ever admit, and he also felt a parental rage washing over him, after everything he had done for Ellie, he thought anyone with an ounce of humanity left would at least relate. He squeezed his eyes shut, and there she was; though she was only sixteen now, and she was there at the Salt Lake Hospital.

_'I need to hear you say it,"_

Isaac helped Joel into one of the SUVs before shutting the door and climbing into the driver's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the inspiration for how I'm portraying Isaac is through Negan in the walking dead! I don't really have a plan for Isaac yet, but he will still be the main "villain" of this story.


End file.
